


From the Heart

by Crazyeight



Series: The Meaning of Chocolate and Flowers [2]
Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Tamers
Genre: F/M, Flowers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gardens & Gardening, Language of Flowers, Romance, White Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2019-03-20 20:39:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13725564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crazyeight/pseuds/Crazyeight
Summary: It's been almost a month since Valentine's Day, and now with White Day approaching Takato begins to search for the perfect gift for a friend of his. The problem is... he has no idea what to get her.





	1. Prologue: Time and Memory

"…And Agumon warp digivolves tooo….MetalGreymon!" Exclaimed Takato triumphantly as he slapped down a card emblazoned with the image of a giant, orange dinosaur with massive, mechanical arm and face plate covering its head. Crimson eyes rose up to look at a pair of shocked, gray colored ones. A warm, excited smile flashed across the face of the owner of those crimson irises as he eyed the boy sitting across from him. "And that's game."

"Aw man!" Groaned Kazu Shioda as he clutched the side of his head in mock pain. "That hurt! I can't believe that you were able to pull something like that out!"

"What can I say?" Chuckled Takato Matsuki as he picked up the card he had just played and brought it to a rectangular device and ran it through a slot in the side. Numbers flashed for a second, processing the information before revealing a score of one thousand. "I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times. You're dealing with a super genius."

"Yeah right," joked a dark haired boy sitting next to them. "Rika still pummels you into the ground when it comes to the card game. Super genius you're _not._ I'll admit though that you're getting better. At least now you don't rely on some stupid card combo to win like you used to."

The three friends laughed and Takato leaned back against the concrete wall of the dinosaur hut that had been their hangout from they had been in the first grade. Many things had changed for them in the past two years, Takato's rather 'flawless victory' notwithstanding. There had once been a time when Kazu had ruled the realm of cards…at least within their own little playgroup prior to becoming friends with the two champions, Rika Nonaka and Ryo Akiyama. The digimon card game had been the one thing that Kazu had been known at to excel in (as his grades in school certainly left something to be desired) and Takato to, well, not. This began to change when Takato received his digivice and took his first steps towards being a Tamer. It wasn't something that happened overnight, but anyone who knew him could tell that his experience both on and off the actual battlefield hadn't been wasted. That, coupled with tips from friends who had far more talent with the game then he ever did had transformed Takato into something resembling a respectable gamer, even though he could only match Kazu, Kenta, and Henry.

_It's still a little kid's game,_ thought Takato, smiling to himself, _but it's still something that we enjoy playing, even if it's only 'every now and then' nowadays. We're getting older and our interests are changing too. We all still love digimon…it's kind of hard_ not _too considering our occupation, but the card game and show get harder and harder to stick with every year._

Even so, the familiar, Takato felt, was always good to delve into. It broke tension and brought back many a fond memory.

"So…Chumley," began Kazu as he shuffled his deck. "How's that manga you're working on doing? Did you come up with an idea for it yet?"

Takato scratched the side of his head, feeling slightly agitated. He had told his friends that he was thinking about getting into the manga business since he had something of a talent for drawing and storytelling. Some of his friends would say that his imagination could leap well into the realm of bizarre than what was good for him, but they were still encouraging nonetheless. Now he had to admit that he wished he hadn't said anything. Now it felt like everyone was expecting him to pull a proverbial rabbit out of his hat.

_No pressure,_ Takato chuckled mentally while at the same time wondering if there actually was something in there that he could use for an idea.

"I've been writing down every idea that comes to mind but so far nothing sounds good right now."

"I'm sure you'll figure something out," grinned Kazu. "You're pretty good at winging it when your back is to the wall. Everyone here knows it. Heck, I'd say your odds of breaking into the manga business before your fifteen is better than Kenta's odds of getting used to his contact lenses within a week."

"Hey!" Exclaimed the dark haired boy, and all eyes turned towards him. Not for the first time did Takato blink at seeing how drastically different his friend looked without his glasses. He looked so… _strange_ without them. Yet another thing that had changed.

Next to him floated MarineAngemon, who frowned at Takato and Kazu, daring them to say something that would hurt Kenta's feelings. Kazu, in stark contrast to how he would have gone about things two years ago simply smiled and clapped his friend on the back.

"Yeah, I know. 'What do I know?' right? I'm just joking with you. At least this way you have a better chance than ol' Chumley here on getting asked out on a date. All the girls we know have started taking notice of you more since you put in those things. Even _Rika_ thinks you're not bad looking, and if _she_ thinks that than you must be doing something good. She usually has pretty high standards about that sort of thing."

Kenta groaned.

"Yeah, but I didn't get much chocolate on Valentine's Day and that was when I started wearing contacts," said Kenta with a dejected sigh. "And now I have to figure out what I'm going to get Ayaka and Miki for White Day…"

Takato raised his eyebrows at the mention of the holiday.

_Oh yeah. That's right. I nearly forgot about that._ Takato smiled as he thought back to Valentine's Day. It had certainly been one worth remembering though Terriermon hadn't left him alone about it ever since. He certainly had plenty of reason to as it had been the first year that Rika had handed out chocolates to anyone, never mind the rather awkward situation that she and himself found themselves in before Henry and Terriermon showed up.

Almost against his will Takato found himself blushing at the memory of Rika pressing one hand against his cheek and looking at him with a strange expression on her face. It had been almost a month since the incident and although their friendship hadn't altered in any significant way Takato felt that there had been something about it that seemed… _different._ He couldn't quite figure out what it was but it felt like he was noticing Rika more than usual. It seemed to be the same on her side of things to because every now and then he would catch her looking at him before looking away with the slightest touch of red to her cheeks.

Or maybe that was just his imagination. If anything else, that was the one thing he had in abundance and it always had a way of getting away from him. His mother, at times, referred to it as 'his curse.'

While the thought churned around in his mind Kazu and Kenta's conversation only drifted vaguely through his thoughts until Kazu broke through the fog of his concentration with the snap of his fingers.

"Hah! Wha…?"

Kazu shook his head at his friend.

"Jeez. Even though you don't have your goggles on today you're _still_ not getting enough circulation to your brain. I was asking you what you got Jeri, Rika, and Miki for White Day."

"Uh…" Takato paused as he strove to remember. He knew that he had gotten Miki and Jeri chocolates; both had been homemade and Jeri's had a nice little ribbon wrapped around its box, but he couldn't remember what he had gotten for Rika.

_Was it the Renamon evolution line? No, that was during her last birth…ohhh_ nuts!

"Ahhh, don't worry about it. I'm sure you wanna keep it a secre…"

"…Ouch!"

Kazu blinked in utter bewilderment as Takato suddenly jerked and surged upwards to his feet, slamming his head into the roof of the concrete hut.

"Dude. You need to stand up slower. We're not as small as we used to be you know…"

Unfortunately for Kazu, Takato wasn't even listening as he had swiftly brushed the pain aside in his typical way that had caused one friend to label him with the nickname 'Gogglehead.' Grabbing all of his cards Takato stuffed them into his shoe box and jumped down the hole of the concrete hut, stumbling as he did so.

"Ohmylookatthetime!Sorryguysgottago!Reallybusy!"

Like a machine gun on full automatic Takato's mouth blasted out a quick apology that neither of his friends caught right away and with that he sped off. Kazu dropped his head out of the bottom of the hut, a highly confused expression sitting on his face. Next to the entrance to the hut stood a large, rust colored, robot who watched Takato race off.

"Oookay…" Kazu drawled out. "That was weird. Hey Guardromon. Did you see any fire jetting from Takato just now?"

"No. Should there have been?"

"I'm just curious about what set him off just now."

"Well it _is_ Takato…"

"Do you even know what I mean when I say that about Chumley? Get your own lines you lug nut!"

"Ohhh…"


	2. To Return the Favor

_Oh man, I am such an_ idiot!

Takato hammered the thought over and over through his mind, fitting it into the pattern that his feet made as they slammed down on the ground beneath him as he raced through the park, aiming for his home. He had to be without a doubt, the biggest idiot in the whole world right now; in short, a Gogglehead to which Rika was right to name him. How oh _how_ could he have forgotten about _White Day?_ The one holiday of the year that followed Valentine's Day where boys had to return any favors and gifts that a girl had given them during the previous month. Well, it wasn't that he forgot per se, but more that he had forgotten to get something for _Rika._ White Day may be days away but forgetting anything or anyone important always brought Takato down and made him want to kick himself.

Takato burst out of the park and began to race down the streets, not even bothering to slow down as all of his years of experience from dealing with wild digimon came to his aid, lending his feet the kind of wings that came with endurance. After what felt like an eternity Takato finally arrived at the bakery that served as the home of his family and he ducked inside the alley that led to the main entrance of the living quarter's area of the building and let himself in.

"Mom! Dad! I'm home!" Called out Takato as he kicked off his shoes.

"Hey Takato," greeted Takehiro as he poked his head in through the door of the kitchen, one hand stirring a bowl of bread mix. "You're home awfully early." The elder Matsuki raised an eyebrow at his son as he took note of a peculiarity. "No Guilmon?"

"Huh? Awww…man!" Exclaimed Takato, starting to look completely and totally frantic now. "I completely forgot to let Guilmon out!"

"Everything all right, son?" Asked Takehiro, completely befuddled by his son's sudden, rather unusual acting and out of character forgetfulness.

_He's not one to forget about his partner that's for sure. He's always gone to see Guilmon at his home no matter what the weather's like out or how late he is getting to school. He must have something on his mind right now? Maybe it's a girl…_

"All right?" Laughed Takato nervously, his cheeks taking on a rosy tinge to them as he rubbed the back of his head. "Oh yeah. Sure. Everything's fine. Just me being my usual self. Nothing to worry about. Really!"

In spite of his rather spot-on assessment as to the source of his son's mental distress Takehiro decided to approach the situation from a different avenue so as to prevent Takato from suffering any further embarrassment while reminding him of his duties.

"Well, whatever it is that you've got going on, you should go and see to Guilmon as soon as you can. I seem to recall your mother saying something to you once about you not being responsible enough to take care of a pet. I wouldn't want her going on about how she was proven right even though you're almost fourteen…"

"Guilmon's not a pet," frowned Takato.

"I know, but Mie will still bring it up that way since you've taken it on as your duty to take care of him. We've got plenty of day-old bread leftover from yesterday so you can grab what you need from there."

"Thanks Dad," said Takato as he prepared to bolt up the stairs to his room.

"Incidentally," continued Takehiro, forcing Takato to stop dead in his tracks so as to allow the man to continue, "One of your friends is here right now looking for you. Mie was just saying that you weren't here but now that you are…"

"Uhhh…this friend…" Takato's mouth twitched nervously. "…Does their hair color have any red in it?"

Takehiro blinked as he processed his son's question before a smile began to draw up on his face.

Takehiro chuckled. There was only one person that he knew his son was friends with who had that kind of hair color.

"Nope. It's just your friend Henry and his partner Terriermon. Funny that you should ask that question though. I had wondered if what you were so agitated about involved a girl. Now that I think about it White Day is coming up isn't it?"

His skin was starting to feel so hot that Takato could have sworn that steam was starting to rise from his face.

_Am I really_ that _easy to read?_ Takato wondered, unable to conceive of how his father had seen through him so quickly. _How it is I managed to hide Guilmon for so long two years ago I'll never know…_

Scratching one hand through his hair Takato, the worried expression never once leaving his face.

"All right. Um…can you ask them to wait for a second? I've got to get something from my room."

"Sorry kiddo but you'll have to tell them that yourself. Your mother's manning the cash register right now and I'm the only one minding the kitchen." Takehiro lifted his face upwards and sniffed the air before groaning. "Great. Looks like I burned another batch again…"

_Uh, oh. That's not going to be good…_

Takato stepped away from the stairs while his father rushed off into the back of the store to deal with the impending crisis. Poking his head into the bakery part of his home Takato saw the familiar face of Henry Wong wearing a dark blue jacket over a green T-shirt paying for a piece of Guilmon bread at the cash register with Terriermon sitting on his shoulder, both ignoring the stares that they were getting from the customers.

_Weird that they would keep getting them since they're almost as familiar a sight around here like Guilmon,_ thought Takato as he waved at his two friends.

"Hey! Henry! Terriermon!"

Gray colored eyes turned up and a warm smile graced Henry's features as he saw that his friend had finally arrived home.

"Hey! Takatomon!" Called out Terriemron, waving one ear at the brown haired boy and giggling happily. "What's happening?"

"Panicking as usual," chuckled Takato, causing Henry and Terriermon to raise their eyebrows at their fellow teen. "Can you hold on a second? I've got to head on upstairs and grab a few things."

"Sure thing," nodded Henry as he handed over some yen to Takato's mother and waited for her to break it into change. Satisfied with this response Takato ducked back into the bakery's living quarters and raced upstairs. Smirking Terriermon hopped off his partner's shoulder and landed deftly on the ground.

"Terriermon," began Henry in a warning tone. "What are you doing?"

"What? I'm just going to go check on Takato. I want to know what kind of disaster he's set up for himself this time."

Henry frowned at the rabbit-dog digimon.

"Terriermon, he's going to tell us when he gets back, can't you wait until then?"

"Nope," was Terriermon's succinct response before he dashed off after Takato at a speed that belied the size of his tiny body.

"Terriermon! Would you wai…" Henry began, reaching out in an attempt to stop his partner before Mie's mutterings about a sudden lack in appropriate change stopped him.

* * *

"Let's see…" Takato dug through various papers of his room with a sense of urgency. "I know that I left a list here somewhere. And where's my wallet again? Oh, right. Back pocket. Do I have enough Yen? Um…let's see…"

"You seem to be in quite the hurry there Takatomon," grinned Terriermon as he padded into the room, leering at the Tamer with a smile that was far too wide on his mouth for anyone to feel comfortable with, least of all for Takato as he turned around to see him.

"I don't see Henry anywhere but I guess that this would be the point where he'd say your name right?"

"Correct-o- _mon-_ do," agreed Terriermon in a sing-song voice, waving one tiny finger to himself. "But Henry's not here right now. So what are you up to? You said you were panicking about something earlier but that's nothing new…"

"Um…just…uh…putting together a shopping list, that's all," said Takato waving off the diminutive little bunny-dog. "A shopping list that's kind of overdue actually."

Terriermon's smirk widened even further.

"Is that so? What kind of shopping list are you 'putting together?'"

"It's…um…nothing special."

Unfortunately for Takato, he hadn't been able to keep a small, nervous twitter from entering his voice. Terriermon giggled mentally. It didn't seem to matter how much Takato matured over the years, he was and always was the Gogglehead that he was born as.

_Whatever it is that's got him all jittery it must be something pretty bad,_ thought Terriermon as he tapped one tiny finger against his chin thoughtfully. _Gogglehead he may be but he's lost some of his dross these past two years. The only thing that gets him riled up like this are girls and…_

Terriermon's black eyes lit up as a light bulb switched on inside his head.

"How's Rika doing?" Terriermon asked bluntly, causing Takato to freeze up on the spot and his eyes to widen visibly.

_Gotcha._

"S-she's…ahem…fine. At least she was the last time I saw her…"

"If I recall the last time you saw her was when you caught her staring at you," grinned Terriermon.

"She…Terriermon!" Takato fumed. "She was not staring at me!"

"Gogglehead," began Terriermon, pointing at his face. "What do you think these eyes are here for?"

"Uh…well, they were made by an artist when they were making the digimon card game so I'm sure it was supposed to make you look cool…"

"Wow. Thanks Takato. Hah! And Kazu says that you don't have any sense of taste. But that's beside's the point. I've noticed how weird you two have been around each other ever since Valentine's Day. Ever since she gave you _Giri_ and Henry and I found the two of you getting cuddly together…"

_"Terriermon!"_

The long eared rabbit digimon blinked as he realized that Takato had just spoken in stereo. Looking up over his shoulder he found himself staring at the rather irritated Henry Wong, standing in the doorway to Takato's room.

"Uh…hey there Henry. How much of this did you just hear?"

"Enough," said Henry, glowering at his partner. "Sound carries really well in these hallways."

Terriermon gulped and nervously rubbed the back of his head.

"Uh…momentai?"

Henry sighed and picked up his partner, allowing him to drape one ear around his neck for support while he clambered onto his shoulder.

"Sorry about that Takato. I tried to stop him but your mom was insistent that I get my change from her before I went looking for you. So," Henry took in Takato's rather flushed face before continuing, "How much did Terriermon get right?"

Takato's shoulders drooped and he groaned in exasperation.

"Every one of them," Terriermon giggled. "He's trying to figure out what to get Rika for White Day and he's freaking out about it. Not that I blame him though. I mean this _is_ Rika we're talking about…"

Henry nodded in agreement. He could understand a little where Takato was coming from. Rika wasn't exactly the easiest person to get gifts for, especially when it came to her birthday. Holidays such as Christmas she tended to give more flexibility but for the most part she seemed to have the unerring preference for _not_ wanting to receive gifts, and the closer they were to being presented on a holiday that was like Valentine's Day or her birthday the grouchier she became. No one knew the precise reasons behind her issues regarding her birthday, but concerning events like White Day it seemed even clearer. Takato especially had reason to worry over the matter, in more ways than one but barring the Giri that she handed out rather unexpectedly last month, the Goggleheaded wonder had given her a White Day present last year and…

_Well, I can't really say that she was offended by it or even upset,_ thought Henry, _but she definitely looked annoyed by it. Probably even more so since she didn't hand out Giri that year and she thought Takato was trying to impose on her or something. I know that the last thing she likes is to feel indebted to someone. And she always seemed to be a little bit sensitive to anything that hinted at romantic undertones from someone when it's not exactly obvious. Ryo, Kazu, and Kenta she knows how to react to, and she never had a problem with anything from me, but when it comes to Takato…I don't know. It's like she's ready to jump to conclusions and trying not to at the same time when it comes to him._

_Then again, if he thought about how he worded things better before he spoke he probably wouldn't have that problem._

Henry laughed quietly to himself. When it came to any one of the Tamers that he was friends with the relationship between Takato and the fiery haired girl known as Rika, the Digimon Queen, he sometimes got the impression that there were more to things between them than what he saw on the surface. He still remembered the bizarre conversation that had gone on between them in the tunnels when they were heading off to fight the D-Reaper, a scene that had been so awkward that he had decided that it was best to not comment on it at all and just let things be, something that he could tell that the two friends were grateful for if their blushing was any indication.

Now though, after having seen the way they were together on Valentine's Day, Henry had to wonder if there was something blossoming between them that even they weren't aware of.

_Takato's had his heart set on Jeri for so long but he never did anything about it. I wonder…would something come out of this because he wants to show Rika how good of a friend he is? 'Stumbling into love?' That's pretty 'Takato-ish' all right. Rika's right. He can be so naïve sometimes it's painful just to watch._

"Hellooo…" broke in Terriermon, interrupting Henry's train of thought. "Earth to Henry! You in there?"

For added emphasis Terriermon waved an ear in front of Henry's face. Groaning a typical 'Terriermon' Henry pushed the ear out of the way and looked at his partner.

"Sorry. I was just thinking. What's up?"

"Takato was asking you a question, that's what's up?"

"I was just wondering," began Takato, "if you had any ideas as to what might be a good idea to get Rika. I don't want a repeat of last year when I made that Renamon bread…"

"Takato, you know that she liked it. She asks you if you can make it whenever we have get-togethers for the holidays…"

"She just likes to show you off in front of her family," quipped Terriermon. "A guy who cooks can't be all that bad after all and Rika's never liked the image of being the 'house wife' who does that sort of thing…"

"Terriermon…"

"What? It's true! Besides, it's not like her mom and grandmother are against you being with R…"

_"Terriermon!"_ Exclaimed Takato, starting to lose his patience. "There's _nothing_ between me and Rika! Just because she…ah…um…anyway! There's nothing going on between us!"

_Are you sure about that, Takato?_ Wondered Henry while Terriermon simply chose to voice his thoughts on the matter.

"Sure didn't look that way to me," he grinned. "You know, I hear that the more someone denies being in love the truer it i…ow!"

Henry lowered his fist back down to his side, having just finished rapping Terriermon on the side of his head.

"Be a good passenger," he told the rabbit digimon firmly. "Terriermon does raise some interesting points though Takato. Unlike him I'm not going to press you about them."

"That's a relief," breathed Takato in relief. "Seriously, I don't know why you think that there's something between me and Rika. We're just really good friends, that's all and I'd like to find something that'll be really special to her. I just need to figure out what that is and I'm a little late coming to the game."

Henry smiled. "Well, if there's one thing that I know about you, it's that you tend to be late a lot of the time. But that's when you're at your best sometimes. I'll be glad to help though. All you really need to do is find something that she likes or is interested in. After that it should be easy. Now, what does Rika…like?"

Henry trailed off as he realized what he had just said. Even Takato looked more than a little deflated now.

"Ask a stupid question…" began a certain long eared digimon in a dull tone.

"Nnnggg…Terriermon…"


	3. To Find That Special Gift for That Special Someone: Part 1

Takato sighed gloomily as he trudged out of the gates of his high school, not bothering to pay any attention to the throng of students that surrounded him, and as such missing the number of female eyes that turned towards his direction. Although he never knew it, or if he did he certainly wouldn't admit it, the knowledge of Takato being a Tamer had drawn more than his fair share of attention. It had gotten him into trouble early on in middle school when some upper classmen, fearing that his presence would endanger their relationships, had confronted him. Any pressure however with the exception of but one individual, cooled off considerably once they had gotten to know Takato a little better, taking in by his rather polite, firm, yet charmingly clueless nature. With so far only one exception to the rule, Takato was the sort of person who could become friends with anyone, and because he tended to be in the background of the media coverage on the Tamers, as they had chosen to focus on the publicity of tournament champions Ryo and Rika, there weren't many people who quickly recognized him for who he was, something that the aforementioned Tamers would consider him quite lucky for while others such as Kazu would quite surprised, if not insulted, that their friend was missing out on his fame.

_"He's the knight in shining armor,"_ Kazu had once said concerning the fame of the Goggle-wearing Tamer. _"He's_ supposed _to get all the glory and we're supposed to be jealous about it. Well, except for Ryo since he's too cool to care and way cooler than_ any _knight."_

However, Takato wasn't thinking of such things, nor did he really care about them. His main priorities at this moment was to visit Guilmon in the park, feed him, do his homework and help out at the bakery. And even more important, on top of all of those was the ever-looming thought of what to get his friend Rika for White Day.

He and Henry had found themselves suddenly and quite unexpectedly up against a wall yesterday when trying to discern what it was that Rika was interested in. It wasn't that they _didn't_ know, it was more that Takato had set himself too high of a bar for himself and Terriermon was quick to point out that this had more to do with the way Rika had acted around him since Valentine's Day, and that, combined with the everything that the holiday and White Day entailed had all but thrown Takato for a loop. He wanted to get Rika something that symbolized how important Rika's friendship was to him, but at the same time he was hampered by what had _nearly_ happened between them almost a month ago.

_"You can't tell me that she wasn't leaning in to kiss you,"_ Terriermon had berated him once upon a time on that ever fateful day after Rika had gone home. _"And cleaning your face? What kind of lame excuse is that?"_

_Well it wasn't an excuse,_ thought Takato as his memory fast forwarded to Henry lightly bopping his partner's head while scolding him for his teasing. _It's what actually happened and then…it's like something else stepped in. I don't know._ Takato sighed. _Maybe I'm just over thinking things too much. It's one thing to make a good impression but another when it comes to…uh…whatever it was that Rika was going to do._

Takato scratched his chin and frowned.

_I'm starting to think that Terriermon implanted that thought in me from his babbling too much. There's no way that Rika would ever like me in that way, right? I mean, she's not the kind of person to be interested in someone like me. Then again, Terriermon would say that this puts me right back where I was yesterday with me not knowing anything about her…Aaagh! I'm starting to confuse myself!_

A hand with its fingers pushed together like a pointed snout was suddenly thrust into Takato's face and the thumb, taking the position of a jaw, snapped downwards.

"Ruff!" Giggled a young female's voice as Takato squawked in surprise and nearly jumped backwards.

"Ah!"

"Always got your head in the clouds, huh Takato?" Teased an all too familiar voice that caused Takato's face to warm ever so slightly in response to it. Turning Takato found his crimson eyes coming to rest on the familiar amber ones of Jeri Katou.

Jeri had changed a lot in the past two years since her incident with the D-Reaper had ended. Gone was the olive green dress and simple yellow shirt that she wore underneath it, replaced by the traditional black colored skirt and white colored blouse that was the official girl's uniform of their school. The single ponytail that had adorned the side of her head remained, but this time was joined by another on the opposite end, and in the place of the green hair band were a pair of amber colored beads. In spite of these changes that went along with the maturity of womanhood that had begun to grown on her the familiar warmth that lay in her smile and behind her eyes remained and, if anything else, had become even more prevalent than ever before. Jeri had grown to be more confident and comfortable with herself over the years and it showed with how much closer she grew to her family, particularly with her stepmother. And what was more, even though she was no longer a Tamer she steadfastly refused to be separate from their duties, and had since become something of their confident, causing Kazu to proclaim her as their unofficial psychiatrist. Even though everyone had been leery of the idea, or any idea that involved Jeri possibly having to deal with old wounds that she had been dealt early in her Tamer career the girl had stuck with it and refused to let anyone treat her as though she were a fragile doll (something that she had, quite surprisingly, scolded Takato for at one point when she was thirteen) and in the end her new role was accepted and since then Jeri had taken up an interest in the study of psychiatry.

"Hey Jeri," said Takato, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "Sorry. I've just been doing a lot of thinking."

"I saw," giggled Jeri. "You had your thinking expression on. You know…the one where you frown a lot and look like you're carrying the weight of the whole universe on your shoulders. Kazu says your dangerous when you're like that."

"Um…hm…yeah, I guess I know what he means. I should probably have a talk with him about that though…"

"You're so silly sometimes," smiled Jeri. "So what's on your mind?"

Takato felt himself loosen up a little as the two friends resumed their walk towards the main gates.

"I was just thinking about the upcoming White Day holiday. I'm a little bit stuck on it…"

"It's about what you're going to get Rika, right?" Asked Jeri with a teasing look on her face, leaving Takato agape at her knowledge of his situation. For the briefest of instants, Takato had the thought that Jeri believed that he saw Rika in _that way_ right from the beginning, like a secret that everyone else knew except for him, but the thought was dispelled a second later as she continued to speak. "Henry told me about it when we were in class today. Remember? I got placed in his class this year instead of with you."

"Oh yeah," replied Takato, remembering now. "That's right. Well, that saves time…and a lot of stuttering too I guess. So, um…" Stopping Takato clapped his hands together and bowed to Jeri. "Would you help me, Jeri?"

A bright blush bloomed on Jeri's face just then, causing Takato to wonder what had caused it before he remembered.

_That's right. The last time I had asked her something like that it had been around the time that I needed some advice for dedigivolving Growlmon. She thought I was asking her out then…_

"Ah…sure!" Jeri said rather loudly. "I'd be glad to. Henry said that you made a list yesterday…"

Takato nodded as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a sheet of paper.

"Yeah. I've got it right here. I thought about some of the things that I know Rika likes or has started taking up as a hobby so I figured that they would be a good place to start."

"I would imagine so," said Jeri with a playful smirk on her face as she took the paper and looked over the list. She raised an eyebrow at him after a second. "No digimon cards?"

"I kinda figured that she might want something else this time. We give her digimon cards almost all the time…usually when she beats us of course…and she's got a lot already. Like I said, I wanted to look for something a little more meaningful. Something 'unique' I suppose."

"Hmmm…" Jeri eyed Takato with a softer smile now. "Well, knowing her I'm sure that she'd appreciate that."

_Okay, I could have sworn that she meant something behind that this time…_

"Let's see…you have books on Haiku listed and…gardening tools?" Jeri chuckled. "I didn't know that you knew she planted a garden recently."

"Yeah," nodded Takato. "I…accidently found that out when I visited her house last summer. She told me that she was bored and wanted to try it out, and that she found the work relaxing. I figured she might like some tools or maybe some seeds to plant. And the haiku stuff she's been getting into quite a lot lately…"

"Takato?" Asked Jeri, interrupting the boy. "How do you feel about Rika?"

Taken off guard by the question Takato looked at Jeri, trying to read her face before answering. Jeri didn't try to hide her face or her emotions from him. Everything, Takato found, was out in the open for him to see. Warmth, acceptance, understanding, and a need to know, as though she had something to tell him once he had given her his answer. Takato rubbed the back of his head, somewhat disconcerted by this openness from his friend. He had half expected…well, if nothing else to have difficulty reading her expression. But then, that may have been his overactive imagination coupled with having read one too many bad romance mangas.

"Um…she's a good friend. I really look up to her and admire her. And sometimes…" Takato closed his eyes and thought back. Violet, flashing eyes appeared in his vision as he remembered the way she looked when he first saw her in his dream, and later when they finally met for real in the park. And that most recent time in Guilmon's hut on Valentine's Day…

_Just_ what _do I feel for Rika?_ He thought to himself quietly, remembering the strange feeling that had filled his chest when her hand pressed against his cheek.

Jeri listened intently while Takato thought things over and after a few seconds she finally saw that they were approaching their group of friends, most of whom were waiting for them at the gate. Knowing that this was the type of conversation that was best done without people who would undoubtedly tease Takato endlessly she spoke up.

"You know Takato…when you choose or make a gift, it's important that you make your feelings known through it. You should really think about what you feel for Rika before you choose what to get her for White Day."

Takato stared at Jeri for a few moments until the call of their friends caught their attention. Smiling happily Jeri skipped forward, one hand waving high in the air and Takato watched her go, a sad and thoughtful expression on his face. For the first time in what felt like a long while, Takato wondered why he had never told Jeri how he felt for her. Things had changed between them, that much was certain. He wasn't exactly sure when or how it had happened but he sensed that something had altered between them. He knew that he still held strong feelings for Jeri, and probably always would, and often he got the feeling that the feeling was mutual or had been at some point in the past, but for some reason or another because he had never followed through and told her, somewhere down the line when she became the confident of the Tamers things had 'cooled' between them. While they still remained very close friends, Takato got the distinct feeling that was all that would ever be between them.

* * *

_'…Make your feelings known through it…'_

Jeri's words were still floating through Takato's head as he and Guilmon made their way down the streets that led to Rika's house, his crimson friend gleefully snacking on a piece of Guilmon bread.

"You okay, Takato?" Asked Guilmon as he sucked a stray piece of peanut butter from off a claw.

"Huh? Yeah. Why do you ask, Guilmon?"

"You've just been so quiet, and we're walking in the direction of Rika's house. I don't remember you saying that we were invited there when you said you 'wanted to think,' and you've got a funny look on your face. What's Kazu call it…?"

_I really need to talk to Kazu about that,_ thought Takato with a slight scowl before giving a sigh.

"Yeah, I'm fine Guilmon. I'm just looking for inspiration. Remember how yesterday I told you that I needed to think about getting something for Rika?"

"Uh-huh. Are you still stuck on that?"

"Yeah," Takato nodded. "I was hoping that by coming here I could focus my mind better and something would come to me. So far nothing yet."

"Hmmm…why not make Rika bread? You know like you did for me? A loaf of bread shaped like her head."

Takato found himself chuckling a little.

"I'm not so sure that's quite what I'm looking for, but I'll keep it in mind."

"Oooh. You know, you can use cinnamon for her hair…"

"Guilmon…" Takato laughed. "Enough with the bread already. You're obsessed. I'm just looking for something that says 'her.'"

"And you think that you'll find it here?"

"Well, she does live around here."

Guilmon smiled. "That's right. And this is where we ran into her isn't it?" Guilmon pointed to a nearby alley off to the side. "Remember? Back when we were looking for Calumon?"

Takato's gaze followed Guilmon's claw to the alley. He did remember that they had encountered the vulpine digimon, Renamon in one like this, but with the sheer number of alleys that lay around this area Takato couldn't be sure if this was the precise one where they had met.

_Guilmon's nose probably knows,_ thought Takato with a small smile.

"Yeah. It's kind of funny that we wound up so close to her home at that time. And we didn't even know that she lived around here either. Talk about coincidence. But probably not as big as the one where I dreamt about her before even meeting her. I still don't know what that's all about."

"Do you think that it's important?"

Takato shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know Guilmon. My dreams tend to be pretty weird. Then again, it's where I first thought you up…"

"…And we saw what came from that," teased a smooth voice from the alley, and before Takato's surprised eyes the familiar form of Renamon phased into view, paws crossed over her arms as she leaned against the wall of the alley.

"Renamon!"

"That's her all right," piped up another voice from behind them. Feeling a drop of cold sweat beginning to crawl its way down his back Takato turned and looked into the eyes of one Rika Nonaka, her eyes regarding him in cool amusement as the first stars of the evening danced within their depths.

"Rika…"

A small smile grew on the girl's face as he said her name.

"And that's me. So…care to tell me what you're doing in my neck of the woods?"


	4. To Find that Special Gift for a Special Someone: Part 2

"W-What are you doing out here?" Stammered Takato, rubbing the back of his head nervously while next to him Guilmon regarded the scene with quant curiosity.

"That's what I asked, Takato," replied Rika in a bemused tone, folding her arms beneath her breasts. Takato swallowed audibly. "Or have you been taken over by a Parrotmon now?"

_I'm pretty sure if that were the case I'd be acting a lot more normal,_ thought Takato before realizing how odd that sounded. _Is my thinking going in the right direction?_

"Uh…" Takato's mind raced. Against all expectations this was how things turned out. Rika Nonaka, the girl who currently had his mind wrapped around her fingers (regardless of whether she knew it or not), was standing in front of him demanding a reason for his being in her neighborhood.

_Well, not exactly 'demanding' you could say, but with Rika she won't let something like this go until she gets an answer…at least when I'm acting like this she won't. How am I going to get out of this one?_

Disregarding the fact that he could have solved the situation relatively easily and in short order, Takato's frantic mind sought to buy itself time to collect its thoughts.

"No, no," Takato blurted out, smiling goofily. "Um…that was my question for you. What are you doing out here? It's kind of strange…uh…I think."

Rika tilted her head to one side, fixing her rather quirky friend with a confused look before closing her violet eyes and shaking her head.

"All right. Fine. If you don't want to say anything that's your business. It's pretty clear you've got one of your weird plans set in motion and now you're looking to cover it up."

Rika reopened her eyes and looked at Takato again, her expression impassive yet scrutinizing and, to Takato, as penetrating as a drill. Rika shifted her arms and Takato felt a bead of sweat make its way down his face. Guilmon, for his part, simply blinked his golden eyes and looked over at Takato.

"Takatomon? Rika's giving you that look that your mom sometimes makes when she knows you're not being honest with her."

_Don't I know it Guilmon,_ Takato thought to himself. _And I could really do without the commentary…_

"Um…" Takato's resolve began to cave beneath the pressure of Rika's gaze. "…Actually…I'm out here because I needed to do some thinking…"

Rika's expression relaxed and she uncross her arms and put her hands in the pockets of the jean jacket that she was wearing.

"That wasn't too hard now was it?" Smirked Rika as she turned around. "I don't know why you always have to make a big secret out of everything. Someone's going to think that you're trying to hide something."

Takato gulped nervously.

"Ah…" Takato chuckled anxiously. "W-Why would I do that?"

"I don't know," replied Rika, eyeing him over her shoulder as she began to walk down the street. "I seem to remember a certain _surprise birthday_ where you called me up on my cell phone and asked if I wanted to take you up on an offer to watch Cherry Blossoms that weren't even in bloom yet. You were acting a lot like you are now."

"Yeah." Takato continued to grin. "Surprise!"

Rika _hmmphed._

"It would have been better if my mom didn't suddenly say 'oh that must be that Takato boy now…'" Rika paused and stopped in the street, glancing over her shoulder at Takato and Guilmon, who so far hadn't yet moved from their spot, with an annoyed expression on her face. "Are you just going to stand there all night or am I going to have to yell all the way from the shopping district for you guys to hear me?"

"Ah!" Exclaimed Takato as both he and Guilmon now ran forward to catch up to their friend. Once they had joined Rika the three friends, and an invisible Renamon watching from a safe distance, continued their trek together.

"So you were saying?" Asked Takato once they began walking at a leisurely pace.

Rika again _hmmphed._

"Nothing. I was just saying that mom ruined your 'surprise' by cluing me in on the fact that she knew what was going on when you called. It seemed kind of suspicious."

"Well, she was rather ecstatic when Jeri nominated me for it," mentioned Takato in an offhand manner while Rika frowned.

"At least last time was different," she said. Completely missing the slightly sour tone in her voice Takato found himself laughing lightly.

"Yeah. No Parasimon or any…oh." Takato looked at his friend, a worried expression crossing his face and he immediately wished he could kick himself for acting so foolish.

_Out of all the things that Rika wouldn't want to remember it'd be that. Shoot. We never really talked about what happened that day and Renamon never brought up any issues either so…_

"Takato," sighed Rika in exasperation. "You need to stop worrying. I can practically hear your brain overworking itself. If you're not careful you'll set your head on fire."

"He almost did one time," commented Guilmon from his spot between the two Tamers, causing Rika to look at Takato in bewilderment.

"Do I even want to know what you were doing at the time?"

"It was a problem with the oven," Takato coughed. "It happened about a month ago…"

"It was when the bread kept coming out all crispy. Takato's family had to close down the bakery for a couple days until they had it fixed."

"I'm glad to see that you survived," grinned Rika, remembering seeing the bakery closed down for a couple days when she had been going through the shopping district. "Though if you let an oven defeat you in battle I'd be disappointed. 'Takato Matsuki,'" she now spoke in a dramatic fashion. "'Defeats Demon Lords, the D-Reaper, and an army of Parasimon; beaten by a malfunctioning piece of cooking equipment.'" Rika turned her violet gaze to the brown haired boy and gave him a baleful, yet playful glare. "I'm not about to get outdone by a piece of hardware." Removing one hand from her jacket's pocket Rika pulled her fingers into a fist and playfully tapped her knuckles against Takato's chin, causing a surge of blood to rush through the boy's face from the contact. "Not when you and I still have unfinished business to attend to."

"W-Wha-what does _that_ mean?" Asked Takato, absolutely flummoxed now. He could already feel his brain cells starting to burn themselves out trying to solve the question on their own.

"Call it a _dream,_ Takato," said Rika in a false, wistful fashion as she replaced her hand in her pocket once again. Takato blinked.

_What is she trying to say?_ Was his thought, but what came out was something completely different and not at all intelligible.

"Huh?"

"I'll leave your brain to figure that one out on your own," smirked Rika. "Though I suggest you cool it off a bit before going any further. Anyway," Rika stopped at a crossroads, "this is where I'm heading off to. You guys going to head on home now?"

Takato hesitated. His mind was awhirl with a thousand different thoughts and emotions; so much so that he was having trouble telling right from left now, leading him to believe that even with Guilmon's nose to guide him he'd probably end up getting lost anyway. Shaking his head mentally to clear his thoughts Takato reminded himself of the reason why he was here.

_I need to figure out what to get Rika for White Day,_ he thought to himself. _What better way is there to find that out then to see what she likes best?_

"Actually…if it's all right with you I'd like to…" Takato coughed as he felt himself suddenly growing nervous again. Why did this suddenly become so difficult? "…I'd like to hang out with you a little bit longer."

Takato's voice had rattled a little bit at that, coming out more like an awkward squawk than a simple request. Quietly Takato cursed puberty for the way it messed with people's voices as it caused them to grow.

_And_ why _is my heart beating so hard now?_ Takato thought as he listened to his pulse thrum at a rapid pace in his ears. _I mean, I've always been a little nervous around Rika but this…_

"Sure," replied Rika, her calm voice punctuating the cloud of agitation and nerves that had emerged in his mind like a spear of sunlight. Looking at the fiery haired girl Takato found his eyes drawn to the small smile that was curving on her lips. "Just don't drag your feet okay?"

"Sure!" Takato chirped and Guilmon suddenly threw his arms up into the air.

"Yay! Takato and Rika are going on a date!"

Silence filled the alley as Takato and Rika both stared at the crimson reptile, who continued to laugh and dance excitedly. He could feel the blood rushing to his face again, and though he wasn't looking at Rika he was willing to lay down odds that the same was happening to her.

And somewhere, off in the distance, Takato fancied that he could hear Renamon laughing.

"Guilmon…" began Rika in a slow, measured tone. Takato didn't _dare_ look at her now, as he was sure that she was _heavily_ embarrassed now. Hearing the other Tamer Guilmon stopped in his dancing and looked at Rika questioningly.

"Hah?"

"I'm starting to think that you have too much time on your hands."

_Took the words right out of my mouth,_ Takato thought.

* * *

"Not one word, Gogglehead," said Rika sternly as they made their way down the streets, getting closer to their destination. They were now having to maneuver through the throng of people that surrounded them. Even with Guilmon at their side, digimon had become a familiar enough presence that people could now largely ignore them and go about their lives as usual. Well, as long as they weren't wrecking havoc while they were there.

"But I said I was sorry!" Exclaimed Guilmon mournfully in his partner's place. "Takato told me that when a boy and a girl go off and do something together it's called a date!"

Rika stopped to look at the boy, one eyebrow raised.

"Is that what you've been filling Dino-Boy's head with?" She asked.

"Well, he wanted to know after…um…a-anyway, so I told him that…"

"You're _really_ not making a whole lot of sense Takato," frowned Rika before glancing over at Guilmon. "And for your information, with you here it kind of makes it so that it _isn't_ a date!"

"But Renamon's here, so wouldn't that make this a double date?" Guilmon innocently rebutted, not understanding at all why it was Rika was getting all flustered. Out of the corner of his eye, Takato could have sworn that he saw Renamon phase out of view just enough to give Guilmon a bewildered look before disappearing once again.

Rika turned a baleful expression towards Takato and he threw his hands up in a placating gesture.

"Okay, _that_ I had nothing to do with. That's Terriermon's fault!"

"Terriermon is _really_ lucky that I changed my ways all those years ago," Rika growled, forcefully folding her arms beneath her breasts and turning around to hide her oncoming blush. "Him and his stupid comment about Guilmon and Renamon 'sitting-in-a-tree.' I should have had Renamon load that weenie little rabbit's data when I had the chance. It would have saved me some grief."

"Come on, Rika," said Takato. "You don't really mean that…"

Rika huffed angrily.

"No. But I'm starting to think about what flower I'm going to plant that represents him. Maybe something with thorns. _Lots_ of them. Or maybe I should send him an orange Lily…"

Takato raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

Her face relaxing a bit, but not yet losing its tense irritation over the dog-bunny of a digimon that delighted in making people's lives 'interesting' like an old Chinese curse, Rika turned to Takato.

"It's what I'm here for," she said. "You remember how you found out that I was planting a garden last summer, right?"

"Uh…yeah, though I still don't know the reason why."

In all fairness, it wasn't exactly something he expected from Rika either. In the two years that he had known her Rika had the tendency to disregard anything that was childish or feminine. More than once she had made quite clear that she disliked dresses. There had been various festivals and at least one New Year's celebration where she had made this plain, and to date out of each of these occasions Rika had only worn a kimono during New Years, if only because everyone else had done so (a tradition that had been maintained with the help of Kazu, Kenta, and Terriermon because, as they put it, it was the only time of year that they could catch Rika in something other than her normal attire). Because of this attitude Takato had grown accustomed to Rika not doing anything feminine and as a result it often came as a surprise to him when she did something that he didn't expect, such as planting a garden and dabbling in the arts of Ikebana, or flower arrangements.

_It's not that I don't really expect her to do that kind of stuff,_ Takato amended. _It's just that she does them so rarely that it's surprising when she does. In a way it kind of makes those moments special._

"It was just something that my grandma said to me once," said Rika as they resumed walking down the street. "I found her doing some flower arrangements and we got to talking about some of the meanings behind them. Do you know anything about Hanakotoba?"

"Uh…only a little," replied Takato, scratching the side of his face as he sought through his memory for the information. "Don't tell anyone this but my dad likes to brag about it. He says that it was how he won my mom, but every time he tried to tell the story mom hits him over the head with a towel…and at least once with a spatula. I stopped asking after that. Ah! Yeah, isn't it a kind of 'language with flowers?'"

"Wow," said Rika with a smile of respect on her face. "I'm impressed. Grandma says that kind of thing isn't that well known anymore by kids our age. Well, it _is_ but usually only the western ideas about it are what's remembered."

"I don't think Dad knew it all that well either," nodded Takato. "Mom always went on about how he messed it up…whatever that means. Other than that I'm not really familiar with it. I only know what roses stand for…uh…I think."

"Nice confidence there," said Rika, smirking. "But don't worry too much about it. I'm only really starting to learn about it myself. I asked my mom to get me a computer so I could look this stuff up. It's been a big help." Rika grimaced. "Even though the technological side has been kind of a pain…"

"At least it sounds like it's challenging."

Even though he would miss it Rika gave Takato a half-visible, grateful smile.

"Yeah. It is." Turning her attention back to the street and scanning the shops for what she was looking for Rika continued. "And that's why I've stuck with it. It hasn't always been fun and games, but I needed something different. Believe it or not, even the card game gets to be boring after a while when all you do is the same thing over and over again…"

"You mean watching us lose to you over and over again," groaned Takato. "Well, except for Ryo…"

"He's only living on borrowed time. I'll get him eventually. At any rate, making a garden gives me plenty to think about. Plus I can get my hands dirty and my mom won't worry about how it makes me look. She's more understanding about my needs nowadays but she still worries about how I look in front of other people. I think she's just grateful I've compromised at least this far even though I still won't get in a dress."

"You wouldn't be the Rika we knew if you did that," smiled Takato. "And, believe it or not, I like you that way."

Rika's eyes widened slightly and a faint, rosy tinge touched her cheeks as she looked at him.

"Takato…"

Takato had about five seconds to realize what he had just said and he blushed furiously before looking away.

"Um…anyway! What kind of things do you think about when you're planting your garden?"

"A-A lot of things," Rika scowled as she stammered, though it went unheard by Takato who was busy dealing with his own embarrassment. Frowning Rika glared at him and continued in a lower voice. "Stupid Gogglehead."

"Huh?"

"I was just saying about how I've started working on making a garden that represents all of you and how I feel about you guys. I add flowers as I go depending on the day and what I remember. I don't want to leave anything out even if it's a bad thought. My grandmother told me once that even negative qualities can enhance a garden. I planted a Suisen, what they call in the west a Daffodil, for Henry yesterday. It means 'respect.'"

"And what you were talking about Terriermon earlier? A…ah… 'orange lilly' was it? What does that mean?"

"It has a couple," Rika grinned slyly. " 'Revenge' being one of them. I'm thinking about adding an Asagao 'Morning Glory' to compliment it. That one means 'willful promises.'"

"Sometimes Rika you scare me…"

"And now you know why I'm called the 'Digimon Queen.' Now…" Rika came to a halt in front of a small shop and stepped inside, the bell on its door ringing to announce their presence. "…Here we are."

Takato gazed around the shop. It had a small, cramped look to it due to the sheer number of plants that hung from the ceiling or lay below. He had been in flower shops before with his mother and at least on one occasion with Jeri and every time he visited one he was always amazed by the sheer scope of plants that they contained.

"Ah. Good evening Ms. Nonaka," greeted a woman at the cash register.

"Evening Mrs. Suzuki," replied Rika in a warm, cheerful manner. "Just thought that I'd stop by and see what's available."

"For your garden I take it?" The woman asked smiling, to which Rika nodded, somewhat embarrassed. Takato raised a mental eyebrow, somewhat surprised by the amount of familiarity the two had with each other. "Do you have anything specific in mind?"

"I've still got some thinking on the last two, but I thought that I'd make some additions while I was here. Oh, where are my manners?" Takato's eyes widened as Rika stepped to the side and indicated Takato and Guilmon. "These are some friends of mine, Takato and Guilmon."

"Hiii!" Exclaimed Guilmon happily as he waved at the woman with one of his hands.

"Ah…hi," greeted Takato as he gave Mrs. Suzuki a bow. The woman chuckled, taken in by their personalities and not in the least bit disturbed by Guilmon's appearance.

"My. So polite. Such a rarity these days…"

" _Too_ polite sometimes," commented Rika. "And clumsy to boot. But they mean well."

Feeling confused Takato pointed at the two.

"You know each other?"

Rika nodded. "She's a friend of my grandma. She recommended her store for all of my gardening needs. She's been a big help with helping me choose what seeds to plant and teaching me about Hanakotoba." Rika gave the two a stern gaze. "You two behave yourselves. I'm going to look around for a bit."

"Uh…sure…"

"Okay," replied Guilmon before he stuck his nose in a nearby flower and inhaled. A second later a full blown sneeze echoed throughout the room and Rika poked her head past a pot to see what was going on.

"Sorry," apologized Takato while Guilmon busily wiped his nose. Shaking her head and making a slightly disgusted sound Rika disappeared back into the recesses of the shop. Humming quietly to himself Takato looked around the shop once more, once again amazed at the sheer amount of colors that nature put forth in the plants. Reds, blues, everything in between and outside of them as well. They were…

"Very pretty," breathed Guilmon.

"Thank you," said Mrs. Suzuki. "I'm always glad to see my store's contents are enjoyed."

"You're welcome." Guilmon hesitated for a moment before speaking again. "Hey flower lady…?"

"Guilmon!" Scolded Takato. "That's _Mrs. Suzuki!"_

"Oh. Sorry." Guilmon made a close approximation of an apologetic bow, to which the flower shop woman raised an eyebrow at.

"No need to be so formal around here. If you have something you want to ask, just ask."

"Um…" Guilmon looked around him hesitantly. "What would you think would look good for a fox digimon named Renamon? She's Rika's partner."

Takato looked at Guilmon, quite surprised by the question. Out of all the things he had expected that certainly hadn't been it. Even with his comment earlier about Renamon's presence making this outing a 'double date' it hadn't crossed his mind that Guilmon would…

_Hold on a second. How would this sort of thing work? Does Guilmon really know what he's talking about? I mean, sometimes he can be surprisingly smart about some things but other times he misses out on others. Or, as Rika would say it, 'naïve.'_

"Ah yes," said Mrs. Suzuki. "I've met her before. Such a beautiful thing. Are you looking for anything in particular? Something to convey meaning or…?"

"If you have anything that means 'pretty' I'll take that." Guilmon's ears twitched as though he was remembering something and then his eyes became downcast. "Oh. Wait. I don't have any money."

Walking over to his friend Takato placed a hand on Guilmon's head and patted it reassuringly. "Don't worry buddy. I've got this."

"But Takato…you need to get something for Rika on White Day…"

"Well…" Takato frowned. "I know, but…"

"Don't worry," said Mrs. Suzuki as she got up from behind the counter and walked around, heading towards a corner of the store and bringing down and brought down a white colored rose that Takato recognized to be a 'Bara.' "This one is on the house."

"Really?!" Exclaimed Guilmon happily and he bowed so deeply that his nose hit the floor. "Thank you!"

Takato's mouth stood agape in astonishment.

"W-We really can't…"

Mrs. Suzuki waved Takato's concerns off.

"This is my store so I'll have the say on what's sold and what's given away. Now, what about you?" Mrs. Suzuki turned towards Takato. "Your friend says that you have something important that you need to get as well…"

"W-Well…" Takato stammered and blushed. Rubbing the back of his head he glanced over to where Rika had gone. Mrs. Suzuki saw this and nodded in understanding.

"Then again, it would be best for you to look into that when she's not around. It wouldn't be good for the surprise to be ruined before you're ready to present it, am I correct?"

Takato vigorously nodded his head, not trusting his words at the moment. _More than you know,_ he thought. After a few more minutes Rika came back with a packet of seeds and placed them on the countertop. Taking a look at the flower that Guilmon held Rika raised an eyebrow.

"And that is…?"

"For Renamon!" Guilmon crowed happily, to which Rika gave the dinosaur a bizarre look that had surprise coupled with a smirk twitching at the corners of her lips. Takato had to wonder if she was fighting the urge to laugh. Even he had to admit that the thought of Renamon receiving flowers from Guilmon would be rather fun to watch, if only to see what the vulpine's reaction would be, unused as she was to receiving such gifts.

"Will that be all, dear?" Asked Mrs. Suzuki, interrupting the trio from their discussion.

"Hmmm? Oh, yeah!"

"Momoirobara?" Asked Mrs. Suzuki, and Takato looked at the packet to see a pink colored rose decorating it. "Would this be for…?"

"No!" Rika said a little too quickly. "At least…um…I'm not sure yet. It's just a thought."

Mrs. Suzuki smiled.

"A strong one since you're buying it. Now, let's see…"

As Mrs. Suzuki calculated the price of Rika's purchase Takato's mind laid back and set itself back to thinking what he was going to get Rika. The answer, he felt, lay very close to him now, but never before had it seemed so far away.

_Nothing's ever easy is it?_ He asked himself as Rika finished paying Mrs. Suzuki.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Concerning some of the flowers that were chosen but didn't get a definition for what they mean in Hanakotoba, the ones that Guilmon got, 'Bara', from what I can tell means 'innocence, silence, and devotion,' the first and last I felt suiting Guilmon the best. The last, the one that Rika picked, Momoirobara, means trust, happiness, and confidence. Who it's for I'll leave for you to determine. 'Till next time.


	5. the Heart of the Queen

"Rennnaaamonnn!" Drawled out Guilmon as he waved happily at the golden furred, vulpine digimon with one clawed hand. "Bye! Bye!"

Takato smiled down at his partner from their spot outside of Rika's gate, overcome by a feeling of nostalgia. The most notable time he remembered Guilmon waving goodbye towards Renamon in that fashion had been when they went down to Rika's house for the first time. They hadn't been on friendly terms then, completely unlike how they were now, and it was that marked difference that told the difference between how the four friends acted when they parted ways. Rika was smirking at the red scaled dino while behind her Renamon was trying hard to not look flummoxed. She pulled it off quite well, but Takato had known her long enough now to guess her emotional weather even without any visual cues. And no wonder, as she held in her paws the Bara that the shopkeeper had given him. Her blue eyes glanced down at the plant, and one claw fingered its white petals with some agitation. Behind her, the vulpine digimon's tail swished through the air and she looked back up at Guilmon before finally nodding at him. Takato had to repress a chuckle at the sight.

_Well, who can blame her? I'm sure she didn't expect to get an early White Day present from Guilmon. I kind of know how she feels. I didn't expect to get a Valentine's Day gift from Rika._

"So, are you going to stand there staring all day, Gogglehead?" Asked Rika, breaking the silence. "Or are you and Dino boy going to go on home?"

"Huh?" Guilmon looked up at his partner as the boy jumped, driven out of his reverie by his friend's question. "Takato's staring?"

"His attention span disappeared somewhere into la-la land about a minute ago. I was starting to think that he liked that spot or something…"

"Maybe he just likes being with you," said Guilmon, eliciting a cry of surprise and fear from Takato. Reaching over the brown haired boy clamped his hands around Guilmon's mouth, laughing nervously as he looked at Rika's face. Surprisingly she didn't look angry or embarrassed as he would have expected. Instead she simply regarded him with a contemplative, amused expression on her face before shaking her head.

"At least that got him going. You'd better get going Takato. In case you didn't notice, it's starting to get late."

Rika thumbed the sky above them, pointing out the orange that signaled the setting of the sun over the horizon. Takato, who was still fighting down a blush from his partner's earlier comment.

"Uh…yeah!" Chirped Takato, feeling the heat of his face crawling all across his face. "We'll just be going now and…um…stuff…and…"

"Takato, you're starting to stutter," Rika laughed as she turned and headed into her home's yard, one hand reaching for the main gate. "Just get going already. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Right," replied Takato, rubbing the back of his head as he urged Guilmon forward. A second later he heard the dull click of Rika shutting the door behind her before he remembered that he had something he wanted to ask her.

"Oh! Hey Rika!"

The door to the gate clicked open, and the fiery haired girl poked her head out, her expression questioning. For an instant, Takato's question hung on his lips, and he found himself unable to speak. However, seeing Rika's look of 'get on with it' the Tamer quickly found his courage and spoke.

"Ummm…a-are you…ahem!... Are you doing anything this weekend? Like…um…anything important…that you usually do?"

Takato could have kicked himself for how stupid that sounded, but unable to take his words back he could only stand there and wait for Rika's response as she processed his words. In a moment that seemed to drag on forever, Takato had the strangest notion he knew what it was like to wait for the Guillotine to descend.

Rika furrowed her eyebrows together as her piercing violet gaze stared him full in the eyes. Yet there was no anger, suspicion, or annoyance at his request. Just quaint curiosity.

"Like…what exactly?"

"Huh?" Came Takato's response. Realizing that she had perhaps jumped the gun in her own question Rika decided to rephrase her words.

"I…don't think that I'm doing anything important this weekend. Why? Are you asking to hang out or something?"

Takato dry swallowed as he felt a heavy air descend between them, making speaking feel exceedingly difficult to accomplish.

_Why should I be nervous?_ Wondered Takato. _It's not like I'm asking her out on a date or anything! I'm just…it's just White Day and I want to know what she's doing then so that I know when to deliver her gift. Preferably alone. I don't think she'd appreciate Terriermon, Kazu, or Ryo teasing her about my giving her a present. Come to think of it, I wouldn't want Terriermon or Kazu doing that to me too…_

"Um…yeah, you know. Just…" Takato coughed nervously. "…Just hang out and do stuff together."

The expression on Rika's face seemed to ask him 'don't we already do that?' but as though she sensed that he meant something 'else' she was silent for a few seconds before pushing the gate open wider and leaning an arm against its surface and placing one hand on her hip. The creek of the gate punctuated the silence as Rika's expression changed, becoming more contemplative and at the same time, unreadable.

"Are you talking about a date or something?" She asked bluntly.

Takato's body went rigid, though fortunately for him his shock didn't show on his face.

_Um…This is taking a completely unexpected turn here. Okay; which answer can I give that will get me in the least trouble? Rika can be touchy about this kind of thing. Probably more so now after Guilmon's made his comment earlier about us going on a double date. Terriermon…why did you have to tell Guilmon about that? What am I talking about? This is Rika! We're friends, right?_

"Um…I just thought that you and I could just hang out… _not as a date!"_ Takato waved his hands in a placating manner in front of him, anticipating an outburst from Rika. "Just as friends."

Breathing a sigh, Takato looked at Rika, feeling relieved that he had finally gotten that out of the way. It felt as though a heavy weight had been lifted from his chest. Now all that was left to do was get Rika's answer, and to get her present before the due date and he would be set.

Takato frowned slightly as he took in Rika's expression. She looked strangely… _disappointed_ for some reason. Not terribly so, but more like she had thought there was something more to it than what he had said. After a second she closed her eyes and then looked at him.

"Sure. This Saturday fine with you?"

"Sure!" Replied Takato, a smile growing on his face, pleased with her response. Rika nodded, though her expression didn't change.

"All right. See you then."

With that, Rika turned and went back into the yard and shut the gate behind her with a heavy click. Takato waved for a moment before returning his hand to his side, a troubled look crossing his face. Seeing this Guilmon looked up at his Tamer.

"What's wrong, Takato?"

"Hmmm? Oh. I don't know. It's just…did Rika look funny to you when I asked her if she wanted to hang out with me?"

"Mmmm…a little. But why would she? She's always liked hanging out with her friends before, so why not now?"

"I don't know, Guilmon. I don't know."

"Do you think it's because you only said that it was because you were friends?"

"Sounds crazy," chuckled Takato lightly, patting his partner on the head as they turned to leave. "I mean, Rika doesn't see me like that…does she?"

"I don't know. I don't read minds like Renamon."

"That's true…wait. Renamon can read minds?"

"Sometimes it seems like she does."

Takato scratched his head in confusion as he rolled the scene around through his head, and while his concerns tickled the back of his mind he couldn't think of any reason Rika would at all be disappointed in him asking to hang out with her 'as friends.'

_It couldn't be because of 'that' could it?_ He wondered as he replayed their encounter on Valentine's Day in his head. He remembered the feel of her hand pressing against his face, and the way that she looked as she stared at him. It had been so strange then…and in a way, frightening as well. Did that moment stand out in her mind just as much as it did hers? They hadn't talked about that moment at all in the month that had passed since it happened, and there were times where he caught her staring at him thoughtfully, and when he did he was always the one to look away first and blush.

_Maybe Terriermon's right,_ groaned Takato mentally. _Maybe I'm just in denial about the whole thing. No! We're just friends! That was just a weird, one-million-in-a-chance moment! Just like that time I accidently embarrassed her about her new shirt two years ago in the tunnel._

Still…the question did beg, and the more he focused on it, the more it tugged at the back of his mind like a mosquito bite that refused to ignored.

_Maybe I'm just being paranoid,_ thought Takato as he looked over his shoulder at the gate to Rika's home. However, for the strangest reason he could not shake his worries.

* * *

Rika closed the gate behind her and stood in front of it silently for a moment, half-listening to the voices of her friends on the other side as they talked and went on their way and half-thinking about their behavior at the same time.

"A yen for your thoughts?" Asked Renamon as she eyed the girl curiously.

"Just thinking, Renamon. Nothing special."

The vulpine digimon tilted her head to one side.

"It sure doesn't look like 'nothing special'," said Renamon. "In fact, if I didn't know any better I'd say that Takato's question has left you feeling…'put out.'"

Turning, Rika frowned at her partner.

"What are you talking about? Are you saying that I'm feeling upset because Gogglehead didn't ask me out on a date or something?"

"Are you?" Asked Renamon. "After all, this isn't the first time that something like this has happened between the two of you."

Shoving her hands in her jacket's pockets Rika waltzed away from the gate and into the yard, making a beeline towards where her garden lay.

"Hmmmph. Takato's goggleheaded 'dates' aren't what's bothering me," replied Rika, "more like it's the context behind them."

Renamon raised an eyebrow.

"Explain."

"You were close when you mentioned my thirteenth birthday party. It not the fact that Takato 'asked me out' that has me bothered. It's _why_ he asked me to hang out with him. I'm perfectly aware of what day it is on Saturday. It's the fourteenth, remember? _White Day."_

"Ah. I see," said Renamon, gesturing with the white colored rose that Guilmon had given her earlier. For a moment her gaze lingered on it, and with an effort she pulled it away. "I seem to recall you saying something about how boys are supposed to 'return the favor' to girls that gave them sweets on Valentine's Day. Is that what you're afraid of?"

"In a way," replied Rika as she came to a stop in front of her garden and looked down at it. Some of the seeds she had planted recently had begun to sprout. Briefly, Rika wondered how much longer it would be until they grew tall enough to bloom. "I just hope," Rika continued bending her knees so that she could get a closer look at the plants, "that whatever it is that Gogglehead has in mind he's not just doing it because it's 'obligation.'"

"Funny," said Renamon. "Isn't that what the chocolate you gave to Takato supposed to represent? That's what you told him on Valentine's Day."

Reaching down with one hand, Rika touched one of the tiny plants, running a finger gently beneath its stem. Her violet eyes were half-lidded as she gazed at the small sprig in front of her as she answered her friend.

"It's a bit more than that," she replied. "I just wanted to show my friends how much I care about them, and Valentine's Day seemed like a good time to do that."

"Perhaps it's a matter of how you both view your holidays," supplied Renamon after a moment of consideration. "Takato has been friends with some of the others longer than you have. For that matter he has had friends longer than you. Perhaps he merely takes White Day as a matter of course."

"You mean 'for granted,'" snorted Rika. Renamon tilted one ear to the side.

"There is that as well," conceded Renamon. "Though I believe Takato deserves more justice than that."

Rika sighed and stood up, not breaking her gaze away from the spot of her garden that she had been looking at. Removing her remaining hand from her jacket's pocket Rika let her arms hover at her sides. Renamon watched the girl carefully, taking note that in the recently removed hand she held the packet of Momoirobara seeds within her grasp.

"Maybe," Rika said just above her breath.

"The way Takato approaches you is important to you isn't it?" Asked Renamon. As though her words were a trigger Rika closed her fingers around the packet of seeds, not quite tightening them, but not quite leaving them relaxed either.

_She's been like this ever since Valentine's Day,_ thought Renamon.

"I'd just rather that Takato doesn't feel 'obligated' to do anything for me," said Rika finally as she turned to face her partner. After a second of the two looking into each other's eyes Rika turned and headed towards her bedroom, sliding its door open and stepping inside. Renamon watched her go for a moment before following her.

_It would seem that young Matsuki has given her much to think about…_

* * *

"Well," said Takato as Guilmon stepped into his concrete home and wandered over to the pit that lay inside; the _second_ pit that had been dug following Yamaki's attempts to close up a temporary digital portal that had once lain within. "I guess this is it. Good night Guilmon."

"Good night, Takato," replied the crimson lizard as he curled up on the rubble ridden ground beneath him, not in the least bit bothered by the rather uncomfortable surface that he used for a bed. The dragon stretched his mouth and let out a loud yawn before looking back at his partner. Takato couldn't help but smile at him.

"Did you get any ideas on what you're going to get Rika?" Guilmon asked.

Takato's expression became distant as he thought back to the purpose of his trip down to Rika's street, and the things that he had seen, and what Rika had told him.

"Yeah," replied Takato after a moment's thought. "Yeah; I think I do. I just hope that I get this right and Rika doesn't decide to kill me or anything."

"I'm sure that whatever you decide, she'll like it," said Guilmon cheerfully before yawning again. "Mmmnnn…sleepy-bye nappy-time Takatomon…"

Takato chuckled.

"Okay. You get some sleep, boy. I'll see you tomorrow before school."

Closing the gate behind him Takato descended down the staircase, his eyes taking in the scenery around him. Upon reaching the bottom he looked up at the sky and saw the small, twinkling stars that were just now starting to peek past the now translucent blue that was the sky. Soon enough it would be dark out, and that blue would be gone, replaced by a multitude of sparkling stars and one glowing orb. Takato exhaled shakily.

_"You know Takato…when you choose or make a gift, it's important that you make your feelings known through it. You should really think about what you feel for Rika before you choose what to get her for White Day."_

Jeri's words rang in his mind, causing his heart to thump painfully in his chest as the questions of the day piled up on him.

_Am I doing the right thing?_ He wondered. _Man, why'd this have to get so complicated all of a sudden? Rika…_

Again Takato exhaled, his breath materializing in the chill that started to permeate the air around him.

_Please,_ he pleaded, though he didn't know to what, _don't let me mess up on this._

With that thought in his mind Takato set off towards home.


	6. Blue Petals

Sunlight filtered in through the glass of Takato's window as he tugged on a shirt. The boy scowled as he finally fit his head through the neck opening.

_Looks like this is another shirt that's too small for me now. Man. I wanted to get bigger when I was just a kid, but if I knew it was going to keep me from wearing my favorite clothes I wouldn't have been in such a hurry._

Moving to put his arms through his sleeves, Takato gagged as the cloth suddenly pulled tight against his throat, blocking off valuable air. Within seconds Takato pulled the shirt off and threw it on the ground.

_This is going to be harder than I thought,_ thought Takato as he moved towards his closet and began to route through the pile of shirts that he had. _It's a sad day when the only thing that fits me is my school uniform. I'm pretty sure Rika wouldn't want to see me wearing something like that. I only just got home too. It would save time but…_

Takato sighed as he pulled out a light green shirt with long, gray sleeves

_This still looks good,_ Takato thought, his eyes brightening up. Deciding that it was as good as anything he quickly slipped it on and patted himself down before glancing at himself in the mirror to make sure that he was decently presentable. _Pants…shirt…check. Anything else? Ummm…let's see… Oh, yeah!_

Quickly moving over to his desk Takato grabbed his deck box and digivice and fit them onto the belt that he had around his waist, a birthday gift that Rika had given him last year. A gift that he had received interestingly enough on the same day he had nearly lost his cards in a fight with a Wild One.

_"Rika's not the only one to have trouble on her birthday,"_ Takato remembered Terriermon saying prior to his partner's usual method of scolding. The brown haired boy smiled at the memory as he placed one hand on the deck box. That too had been a gift from the red haired Tamer, though she had gotten it beforehand. Even though she hadn't said anything about _when_ she bought the belt, she did say that she had gotten it for him because she thought it would be useful, which was more than enough of a hint for him.

_It's still a good thought. Rika's always looking out for her friends…even Kazu no matter how much he makes her angry. Now…is that everything?_

Takato's eyes moved around his desk before settling on the pair of goggles that he had hanging on the edge of his chair. The elastic band was frayed in places, but still serviceable.

_I haven't worn this in a while,_ Takato thought to himself as he picked it up, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as fond memories came to mind. _It's been through some tough times. I wonder why I stopped wearing it…_

Takato's mind paused, contemplating the question for a few moments before he finally raised the yellow trimmed goggles and pulled them on his head. His smile widened as he felt the familiar pressure settle firmly onto his skin.

_It almost feels like old times. Only there's no death defying stuff going on and I'm a lot taller than I used to be._

Glancing at the time on his digivice (having finally figured out the clock function for it) Takato nodded to himself and headed towards the door.

He had some business to take care of.

* * *

 "Hey there, son," greeted Takehiro as Takato came down the stairs and slipped his shoes on.

"Hey, Dad."

"You going somewhere?"

"Yeah," chuckled Takato, looping his shoelaces together. "I'm going to feed Guilmon, let him out so he can get some exercise, and you know…uh…stuff."

"The usual, huh?" grinned the elder Matsuki. "Just make sure that you come home at a decent time, okay? Your mother wants you to man the cash register later so we can prepare fresh bread for tomorrow."

"Got it," replied Takato, standing up. "Is there any day-old bread left over?"

"You'll have to check, though I'm pretty sure that there is. The customers hardly ever touch it you know even if it's cheaper. By the way, how'd your day go?"

"It was…school," said Takato as though the word covered everything that his father needed to know. "Mr. Watanabe gave us too much homework again, and Kazu got in trouble for falling asleep in class…again."

While Takato was left to wonder how his friend was going to pass the upper high school entrance exams Takehiro laughed lightly.

"That's not quite what I meant. I was asking whether you made any girls happy."

Takato felt his heart jump in his chest as he was reminded, not for the first time that today was White Day.

"Um…ah…w-wha-what are you talking about?" asked Takato, his tone lowering to reflect his nervousness.

Takehiro grinned teasingly.

"Come on, Takato. It's White Day. Tell me. I know you got all that chocolate a month ago and you've been acting kind of nervous this past week. You never did do well with girls."

Takato felt his shoulders slump.

"Do we have to talk about this?" the goggle-wearing boy asked in a defeated tone.

"No. But I am a little bit curious. After all, it wasn't all that long ago that a certain long eared digimon was talking about your plan to 'woo the ladies.' Specifically a certain red haired…"

"I get it! I get it!" interrupted Takato, his nerves nearly exploding as he waved his hands anxiously at his father. "I'm…ah…still working on that…and I'm not _wooing_ anyone!"

Almost out of pure reflex, Takato could hear his friend Henry already groaning Terriermon's name.

Takehiro raised a startled eyebrow at his son.

"You haven't picked out a present for her yet?"

"I…ah!" Takato strove to find an answer that wouldn't implicate him with anything that his father was implicating; however his mouth betrayed him in its stammering. "D-Dad! I haven't had the time for it! It's kind of hard to find one when Ri…when _she_ goes to the place I'm…" Realizing that his mouth was going into overdrive in response to his agitation Takato's body froze up and he clamped the disobedient orifice shut to keep him from saying anything more. Takehiro, however, had garnered more than enough information and chuckled at his son's antics.

"Ahhh…I see. So you have a present picked out but she's always around you when you go looking to buy it. Ahhh…that takes me back…"

"You mean back to the fact that you haven't given me _my_ White Day present in almost eighteen years?" came the voice of Mie as she passed by the two, making her way to the kitchen.

Takato blinked, completely frazzled by the conversation.

"Huh-wha…?"

"Funny…" Takehiro furrowed his brow in concentration. "I could have sworn that I had given you something. Are you sure it wasn't the necklace I bought you back in high school?"

"That was the year before!" Called back Mie.

"Weird…"

"Honestly. Like father like son. So absent-minded."

_Oookay…_ the thought passed through Takato's mind as he watched his father scratch the back of his head in an agitated manner. Seeing the troubled expression on his son's face Takehiro flashed the boy a thumbs up.

"Don't worry about it, Takato. Whatever it is you have picked out, I'm sure your friend will like it. She se…"

"Takehiro!" Called out Mie once again. Takehiro grinned.

"And that's my cue, son. If anything, let this be a lesson to you. 'Don't take too long with choosing your White Day gifts.' You don't want to leave anyone with a broken heart."

"Um…'kay…" Takato stood there for a moment while his father slipped into the kitchen to face the wrath of his wife before shaking his head, trying to clear his mind. Not for the first time he wondered if he was the only normal person in his household.

_Normal is probably too strong of a word,_ thought Takato as he entered the bakery section of his home and grabbed a bag. Stopping in front of the day-old bread he began to fill the bag up for his reptilian partner. _After all, I have Guilmon and he's not exactly what you'd call 'normal' even by digimon standards. At least his appetite is normal, though I can't say that does our grocery bills any good._

Placing the last roll of bread that he could fit Takato closed up the bag and left his home, breaking into a jog as soon as he stepped outside to save time.

* * *

 "Guilmon! Chow time!"

"Yay!" exclaimed Guilmon happily, padding up to the entrance of his home as he watched his partner racing up the steps.

"Hey, boy," laughed Takato as he unlocked the door and let his partner out. "Did you have a good day?"

"It was boring," admitted Guilmon, already sniffing the contents of the bread bag. "But Renamon stopped by to say 'hi.' She didn't stay for very long though because she had to keep an eye on Rika, but they're both doing fine too. Renamon says to say that Rika is going straight home after school."

"Um…that's good I guess," replied Takato uncertainly as he handed the bag to his partner and watched him dive his head into its delicious contents. "At least it gives me some time to get her gift without her being there."

"Yeah," agreed Guilmon, nodding his head in remembrance as he popped a piece of Guilmon bread into his mouth. "You had a hard time with that. Every time we tried to go get something for her she'd be at the flower shop, and we'd have to wait until she was gone…"

"Well, she is working on that garden," said Takato. "But I didn't think that she'd be in there for quite that long." Takato furrowed his brow as he remembered the number of times that they had to circle around that street or go find something to do to pass the time.

"Maybe she and the flower lady are good friends."

"There's that," agreed Takato. "Anyway, I'm going to head down there now and see what I can get. There's one thing there that I've had my eye on for a while now so I'm going to get it today…hopefully." Quickly checking his pockets, Takato breathed a sigh of relief upon finding that he had not forgotten his wallet, and that he had sufficient Yen to cover the cost of the gift. "Anyway, you want to come along?"

Guilmon bobbed his head up and down as he finished swallowing yet another piece of bread.

"When Renamon stopped by she said to keep track of you and to not let you get lost on your way to Rika's house," Guilmon paused before adding, almost as an afterthought, the remainder of the vulpine digimon's instructions, "…and to not let you be late."

"I didn't think that I needed a chaperone just to hang out with a friend," said Takato, somewhat perplexed.

"I don't get it either," said Guilmon, tapping his chin thoughtfully with one claw. "I thought dates were between only two people. Didn't you say that earlier this week when you went out with Rika?"

Takato groaned in exasperation.

"Guilmon…for the last time, I'm _not…_ " Takato paused and took a deep breath. "Why am I even bothering?" he asked himself. "This is just nuts. How I made it through this week trying to figure out what to get Rika I don't know."

"Uh oh," said Guilmon, his bat-like ears lilting unhappily as he took in his partner's tone. "Did I do something wrong?"

"What? No. It's just…" Takato ran a hand through his hair. "I guess I just wish people would stop making assumptions about me and Rika just because I'm getting her a gift for White Day. I'm not the only one who's done that so why does everyone keep talking like I am?"

Takato looked at Guilmon with an expectant look, wondering what his answer would be.

"I don't know," replied Guilmon. "But I thought you humans went out with people that you liked. Aren't you also going out with Jeri also? You act the same way around her and you spend a lot of time with her too."

_"Wha…?"_ Takato sputtered as his face went bright red. "I…Jeri and me…we're…ah…wait…"

Guilmon tilted his head to the side at his partner's stammering. He didn't quite understand why Takato was acting like this. From his perspective it was perfectly natural to like someone and to show that affection. It had been why he gave the flower to Renamon earlier in the week.

_Why do people act so funny when they talk about people they like?_ Wondered Guilmon, confused about the matter. _It's like they think that they can't get along by showing how much they care about each other._

"Um…" Takato shifted uncomfortably on his feet as he fought down the massive blush on his face. "…Let's change the subject."

"Hmmm…" Guilmon felt a little disappointed at his partner's need for the change but he knew that this was one of those moments where he wouldn't be able to move his partner's decision. Takato could prove to be very stubborn when he didn't want to talk about a subject that he found uncomfortable or wanted to keep secret (the latter of which he was generally bad at) and so far very few of the Tamers ever managed to get anything out of him when he clammed up. Only Henry, Rika, and Kazu had that capability; the latter two due to their rather forceful personalities and Henry because Takato trusted him to not be too harsh on him for wanting to keep things close to the chest. Even then though, that trust extended to periods when Terriermon wasn't around, or when he agreed to not say anything about what he overheard.

"Okay," agreed Guilmon finally and Takato breathed a sigh of relief. Turning the two headed down the stairs.

_Aaand chalk up another embarrassing moment for me,_ thought Takato, the red heat in his face finally starting to subside in the cool wind of Shinjuku. _Does Guilmon think that all humans can be in a relationship with anyone that they like? I'm going to have to have a talk with him later…_ _ **and**_ _Terriermon too while I'm at it._

Takato sighed mentally as he and his partner made their way through the paths of the park before finally coming out on an all too familiar street that a certain flower shop lay on, slowing down to an easier pace as they did so. Even though he knew what he was there for his mind was distracted.

Guilmon, in spite of his naivety, had touched on a rather interesting point where it concerned Jeri. For the past two years his heart had pined for the girl, and he had been thrilled beyond belief when she had approached him on Valentine's Day to give him chocolates, but during that time it felt to him that there was a gulf growing between them. It wasn't any real sense of distance exactly, but more that things had settled between them in some manner. There had been times before following his thirteenth birthday where he thought about confessing to her his feelings but as his friends could easily win any bet on, he would freeze up on the prospect and fail to follow through with it, inevitably postponing it for a later time that would again repeat itself in the same manner. Takato didn't know what exactly was going on, but there were times where he wondered if he was losing faith in himself or if his feelings for her were changing simply because he hadn't made a move to change anything between them and not knowing what she thought. Or maybe…that he feared that his feelings were born from a child who mistook her initial kindness as something more.

_Man. Who knew that growing up could be so complicated?_

"Takato?" came the voice of Guilmon, breaking through his reverie and causing him to come to a halt and look around for a moment to locate his partner. It didn't take him very long to find him, and Takato had to blink in surprise at the distance that lay between them. As though to drive the point home, Guilmon continued speaking.

"The flower shop is right here," Guilmon said, pointing to said shop with one claw. Takato chuckled lightly at himself for having walked by it without having noticed. For a moment he was left wondering if maybe his goggles _were_ actually on too tight.

"Sorry, boy," apologized Takato as he jogged over to his partner.

"Are you okay, Takato?" Asked Guilmon. "You looked like you were thinking about something hard."

"Something like that, yeah," acknowledged Takato before opening the door to the flower shop and entering, the door giving a soft jingle to announce his entry. Once more he was greeted by the foliage that decorated the store's main room and he stood transfixed for a moment as he took in the sight of all the flowers and plants around him. The sheer scope of colors and species always left him with a feeling of amazement. It was as though the world's entire flower population could be found in this one little space.

"Can I help you with something?" came an unfamiliar voice, jarring Takato back to attention once more. Looking over at the main counter Takato was surprised to find a much younger looking girl standing at the cash register with a wholly bored look on her face. Dark hair draped down her shoulders and Takato pointed at himself questioningly. The girl frowned at him.

"Do you see anyone else in this place?" the girl asked in a sarcastic tone, and Takato found himself frowning back at her. This wasn't the kind of attitude he was used to getting from someone manning the store, or any store for that matter.

"Um…my name's Takato. Is Mrs. Suzuki here by any chance?"

"She's sick today," said the girl settling back in her chair. "I'm her granddaughter. Name's Sayako, and I'll be your customer service for today."

"Sayako," said Takato, mulling the name just above his breath before taking a look around him. _"Flower girl._ Well, the name fits."

The girl glared at him.

"Not funny."

"Sorry. I wasn't trying to be," said Takato apologetically. "Um…can you tell me where the seeds packets are?"

Sayako pointed over to her left at a stand next to some red flowers and with a swallow and a nervous, guarded glance, Takato went over to them and began looking scanning them.

_I had been hoping that Mrs. Suzuki would be here today to help me choose the right one,_ thought Takato. _I didn't get much of a chance to research Hanakotoba this week so I don't know what the actual meaning of these flowers are. Rika's pretty big on the meanings when she comes in here choosing her flowers and I want one that represents her. Maybe_ she _knows?_ Takato snuck a look over at Sayako who was turning the pages of a magazine in a disinterested manner. Remembering the way she had reacted earlier he quickly averted his eyes back to the packets of seeds, deciding that it wouldn't be best to bother her until he was ready to leave.

_Let's see…Hinagiku…that's a daisy. Um…Suisen…Daffodil. Kuchinashi…Uh…Gardenia?_

As Takato ran his eyes over the pictures his gaze caught on one of them and out of curiosity he picked up the packet and looked it over. The picture portrayed on the front showed a group of flowers welded together on a stem with five, blue colored petals each. It was the clear, yet soft blue color that grabbed his attention the most. It reminded him of Rika's digivice's color.

_Now if only I knew what it meant…_

The sound of Sayako giving a startled cry of surprise made Takato's body stiffen and his hands dropped to his deck box and D-Arc instinctively, his eyes already scanning the vicinity for any intruders.

_I don't see anything! There's only me, her, and Guilmon…_

"Just _what_ is that?!" Sayako exclaimed, her voice a mix of fear and righteous anger as she turned her gray colored eyes towards Takato. "What is that thi…" Sayako's voice broke off as she saw the gold trimmed digivice in Takato's hand, and it was then that everything fell into place for her and she relaxed visibly. "Oh. A digimon. You're one of those _Tamers_ aren't you?"

"Um…guilty as charged," said Takato. "But why did you react like that? I thought you saw Guilmon when he came in."

Sayako gave a derisive snort.

"He was hiding behind the pots. I keep telling Grandma that she has too much stuff here." Sayako glanced at Takato. "Is he going to be good in here? I don't want to have to deal with a digimon rampage like you guys dish out on the street."

Takato felt himself bristle a little at the girl's attitude.

"Hey! He's a good digimon! He's not going to cause any trouble! Right boy?"

Guilmon poked his head out from behind a rather large pot containing what looked to be a tree.

"I'll be good. Takato always says that I'm good…except for when I dig holes or raid the kitchen at night."

Takato's shoulders slumped.

"Guilmon…"

"Huh?" The crimson dinosaur's claws immediately went up to the sides of his head and began to feel around his ears in confusion at his partner's tone. "Did I suddenly become Terriermon now?"

"Do you have what you need picked out?" the girl asked irritably.

"Um…I think so," replied Takato as he replaced his digivice and card box onto his belt and walked over to the counter. "Although I'm kind of hoping that you could tell me what these flowers mean in terms of Hanakotoba…"

Once again Sayako snorted.

"Not likely. I don't follow up on these things. Flowers aren't my thing _whatever_ my name means." She gave a sharp glare at Takato to emphasize her point as she snatched the packet from his hands and began ringing him up. Her hands paused as she remembered that he hadn't quite made his decision.

"Are you getting these? Or do you still need to look?"

"Huh? Oh! Yeah. I'll get those."

"Good. Now your total is…"

* * *

"Well that was interesting," said Takato as he and Guilmon left the shop. Next to him the crimson reptile nodded in agreement.

"She's kind of scary. I don't think she liked us, Takato."

"Not everyone likes digimon," said Takato with a note of disappointment in his tone, remembering what Yamaki had warned him about the day the digimon came back.

"I still don't know why," said Guilmon, his face set in a pout. "I'm not the one who goes about breaking things on purpose. And I'm friends with you and we fight together to keep people safe…"

"Yeah, but not everyone is going to look at it that way. I think some people don't want things being disturbed by something they don't understand, and you have to admit, boy, there's a _lot_ we don't understand about you guys." Takato smiled and laughed lightly. "Or your appetites for that matter."

"Mmmm…bread…."

"You're obsessed. Come on. We'd better get going."

"Right. Rika will be mad if we're late."

"Uh…yeah," agreed Takato, scratching the back of his head nervously. Checking to make sure that he hadn't forgotten the packet of seeds Takato began to make his way down the streets with his partner, both of them aiming towards Rika's house for their destined meeting.

_Well…here goes._


	7. Seeds of Feeling

"Hi, Grandma, I'm home from school," announced Rika as she pushed open the gate and stepped into her family's front yard. In response, a woman with graying, brown hair stepped out onto the porch, smiling at the red haired teen in greeting.

"Welcome back," Seiko Hata said, giving her granddaughter a nod. "I take it that you had a good day?"

Rika smirked as she closed the door behind her, not bothering to ask why her grandmother had asked that question. Rika had long since come to acknowledge that the elderly woman could tell more from a glance or the sound of a tone how a person felt, no matter how hard they tried to hide their emotions. As a result, Seiko had taken to being the sounding board for whatever happened to be on Rika and Rumiko's minds, often bringing them together whenever it was something that involved the two of them and allowing them to work it out. All in all, it was a far better system then what had gone on two years ago, with the house quiet and the air stiff with tension whenever Rika's mother happened to be around.

_Which suits me just fine,_ thought Rika, turning to face her grandmother. _I stopped liking that kind of quiet a long time ago._

"Yeah, it was a good day. Didn't get as much homework as before and the teacher took it easy on all of us today. I kinda wonder if it had anything to do with today being White Day though."

"Does that make it bad, then?"

Rika chuckled.

"Nope. Far from it; it's just about the only reason why I can tolerate the holiday…at least as far as today is concerned. Next year it'll probably be different."

"Then all is well," agreed Seiko with a nod. "And Renamon…?"

Rika's face didn't lose her smile as she cross the yard over to the porch and began to head towards her room. "She's around. She's just… _keeping watch_ as she calls it. Don't know why." Rika narrowed her eyes as a suspicion flickered through her mind, but she brushed the thought away roughly. Although she enjoyed her partner's silent guardianship and constant presence, there were times where she felt as though the vulpine digimon could be too much of a 'mother hen' when it came to her person.

_After all, I don't think that I need a lookout for when those two goofballs show up. And I'm pretty sure that they don't need a chaperone either…_

As Rika pushed open the door to her room and tossed in her bag, her nose caught a whiff of a powerful aroma that had filtered in through the kitchen. Raising an eyebrow, Rika turned to her mother with a curious eyebrow raised.

"Are you making cookies, grandma?"

Seiko smiled.

"Since you told me that Takato was coming over today I thought it would be best to have some snacks ready for the two of you."

Rika grinned rather uncertainly.

"Well, we haven't exactly made any plans or anything. As far as I know we're just hanging out. Not that I don't appreciate the gesture, but you didn't have to go to all that trouble."

"Oh, it was no trouble at all," replied Seiko, continuing to smile. "Even if the two of you don't happen to eat them, I still enjoyed making them. After all, Renamon helped make them while you were at school. I must say, she is uniquely gifted."

Rika was half-tempted to make a crack about her partner getting fur in the cookie dough, but the thought of trying something that the vixen made prevented her from doing so. As far as she was concerned, anything that Renamon did was good. Still, Rika had to wonder as to why she would go to such lengths for a get-together like this. It was just her and Takato hanging out, nothing more.

A memory trickled through the girl's mind as she thought, and Rika furrowed her brow.

"This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with it just being me and Takato with no one else around, would it?"

Seiko chuckled.

"Well, the last time you had only him here you didn't have him stick around long enough for me to bake any cookies. Besides, Renamon thought that this would be good to make up for 'lost time.'"

"Hold on. This was _Renamon's_ idea?"

"No, it was mine. But that was the reason Renamon gave when she decided to help out. I thought that was what she was referring too. Besides, it's not often that you decide to hang out with one of your friends. Outside of Jeri you tend to travel in a group."

"It was Takato's idea," grumbled Rika, stepping into her room. Sensing the girl's mood, Seiko's expression softened.

"I didn't upset your day, did I?"

"Huh? No. It's just…it almost feels like everyone's trying to imply something."

Seiko chuckled.

"Well, you're _both_ growing up," understanding what her granddaughter meant in spite of her mincing of words. "I would expect that it would be the natural course of things. Your mother and I went through the same thing, you know."

"Hmmm…"

"Is everything all right, dear?"

Rika stepped out of her room, her wardrobe having changed from her school uniform to something more informal, opting for the jeans that had been her preference of style for time out of mind, and a turquoise blue colored t-shirt. Situated on the right breast of the shirt was a small, purple-heart that had been her trademark for two years; the only 'girly' thing that she ever allowed on her clothing, and her good luck charm for battle.

"Just thinking," Rika replied, checking her hair band to make sure that it was still in place. "Anyway, I'll be in the garden. When Takato comes by could you send him there?"

"Of course. Are you going to be weeding, or are you thinking about planting something again?"

Seiko could have sworn that she saw a small twinkle in Rika's eye as she put her hands in her pockets and headed out towards the backyard.

"I guess that all depends on Gogglehead."

Seiko raised an eyebrow before allowing a small smile to grace her features.

* * *

"Rika's home."

Takato jumped at the sound of Renamon's voice snuck up behind him. Turning, Takato found himself staring into the fox's cool, blue eyes as she surveyed his reaction. Takato swallowed as his heart rate began to calm down. It didn't seem to matter how many times he had been involved in fighting hostile digimon or how long he had known her; Renamon's ability to surprise him and catch him off guard never failed to catch him off guard.

"Hi, Renamon," greeted Guilmon happily, not in the least bit affected by the vulpine digimon's surprise. "We're almost there. We're on time! I made sure that Takato didn't get distracted, just like I promised."

Takato gave his partner a strange look.

"Uh…did you guys think that I would get distracted?" he asked, pointing at himself. Guilmon nodded.

"Yeah. I told you that earlier when we went to get Rika's fl—Mmmph!"

Guilmon was abruptly cut off when Takato wrapped his hands around the reptile's mouth and clamped it shut.

"Guilmon!" Takato hissed warningly. "I told you, it's supposed to be a _surprise!"_

"Mmmph. Frry Tkffoomn."

Takato smiled and let go, knowing that his partner was apologizing.

"Don't worry about it, boy. Ah…Renamon?" Takato looked over at the golden furred kitsune and scratched the back of his head anxiously. "I don't suppose that you could…?"

"…Not tell Rika about what Guilmon almost gave away?" Renamon asked, a surprisingly playful tone in her voice. "Of course."

Takato breathed a sigh of relief.

"So what are you doing here?" the boy asked. "Um…not that I'm not happy to see you, it's just weird for you to show up at a time like this."

"Understandable," said Renamon with a nod of her head. "I just wanted to keep an eye out for you two and make sure that you had the right address."

"Hey!" Takato bristled. "I come here almost all the time. How can I possibly forget how to get here?"

"I suppose that there's something to be said about that," mooted Renamon, still not losing her teasing tone. "I seem to recall you finding your way here even when you had amnesia."

Takato frowned, remembering the incident that Renamon was referring to. Almost a year ago, a digimon that had bio-emerged struck Takato with an energy beam that had temporarily knocked out his memories. In spite of this handicap, he had managed to function almost normally with the only exceptions being that he didn't know who he was, who his friends were, or anything involving digimon. Seeing Guilmon had left him rather frightened, leading him to be chased by the confused dinosaur until he wound up in Rika's neighborhood, where Renamon found him banging on the gate and wanting to be let in. It had been far from his best moment, but the whole incident left everyone with the impression that even without his memories there was very little difference with the Gogglehead that they knew and the one that showed up at Rika's home; a fact that Kazu still teased him about on occasion.

_Even though he didn't know that there was something wrong with me at the time when everyone else thought something was going on,_ thought Takato as he fought down the heat of embarrassment from the memory. Seeing this, Renamon looked over at Guilmon, deciding that a change in topics was necessary.

"Guilmon. Would you like to go somewhere with me? I believe that it would be within Takato and Rika's best interests that we not be around to distract them."

"Ohhh…but why?" asked Guilmon in a disappointed tone. "Then it would be like we're double-dating again."

"Guilmon!"

Renamon couldn't help but let go a chuckle at the two partners' reactions, making Takato look at her with wide, surprised eyes as he wasn't used to hearing her laugh in any setting.

"Even so," continued Renamon, "I'm sure that our partners would appreciate it if they didn't have to worry about us watching them."

Guilmon was silent for a moment, taking in what Renamon had said to him before finally coming to an understanding.

"Ohhh…you mean kind of like what Takato tells me about eating with my mouth open, right? Yeah, no one wants to see that…"

"…Right," agreed Renamon, deciding that a quick close to the conversation was the best course of action here. "Though it could better be said that there are things that people can only say to each other when they're alone."

Takato, who was feeling like he was being talked over, bristled slightly.

"I don't…"

Renamon placed a hand on his shoulder, immediately silencing the boy. Blinking up at the vulpine digimon, Takato was surprised to see a small smile grace her muzzle.

"I see that you're wearing your goggles again, Takato," Renamon commented.

"Uh…yeah," Takato replied, not at all sure how this conversation kept taking such bizarre twists and turns. Renamon nodded, apparently satisfied with its presence.

"Good," she said approvingly, and with that she turned towards Guilmon, leaving Takato to scratch his head in confusion as to what was 'good' about his wearing goggles when he was going to see Rika. For as long as he could remember she had derided him about his sense of fashion ever since they first met. Before he could even ask Renamon anything, the kitsune took hold of Guilmon by the arm and the two vanished together, leaving Takato alone in the middle of the street.

_I'm really starting to think that the universe is playing a joke on me,_ thought Takato feeling more than a little out-of-sorts about the encounter. Nonetheless, Takato tightened his grip on the bag containing Rika's gift and resumed his walk down the street. The silence surrounded him on all sides as he approached the gate of Rika's home, and after taking a deep breath, Takato knocked on the door.

As he waited for an answer, Takato cast his thoughts about him, wondering about the strange dichotomy of his relationship with Rika, and just what exactly it was. It seemed as though their friendship had changed since Valentine's Day when they experienced their 'moment' in Guilmon's hut. The occasional furtive glances that they had given each other…Terriermon enjoyed teasing him to no end about them. And then there was Jeri's advice to him when he asked for her help about what to get Rika…

_We are just friends…right?_ Takato barked an apprehensive laugh, trying more to calm himself than anything else. _Yeah. Just really close friends, that's all. It's just like I tell everyone. There's nothing between us._

Yet for some reason, Takato felt as though today's meeting was going to determine what fate had in store for the two of them in the future.

The clack of the door being opened broke Takato out of his thoughts, and for the moment all worries were swept away as his gaze fell upon Seiko Hata. The woman smiled at him, and Takato felt himself calm down right away, leaving a part of him to wonder what he would have done if it had been Rika who answered instead. The question, much like his worries, were blown away as Seiko began speaking, leaving him with little time to dwell on it.

"Afternoon, Takato," said Seiko.

"Hello, Mrs. Hata," replied Takato, bowing his head in greeting. "Is Rika home?"

Takato felt like kicking himself for asking such a question as Renamon had already informed him that such was the case, but asking seemed to be the best and polite way, to start things off.

"Of course. She asked me to send you out back once you stopped by. By the way, I'm making some cookies for the two of you to share. They're best when they're eaten when freshly baked."

Takato laughed, understanding what she meant by that. From his experience at the bakery, bread was always at its best when it had been just popped out of the oven. It was the reason why customers rarely took to the day-old bread.

"Thanks, Mrs. Hata. I'd be glad to try some."

Seiko nodded.

"Good. Now I should go check on them, and you'd better go see to my granddaughter. You don't want to keep her waiting."

"Um…yeah," Takato mumbled, beginning to feel a little bit embarrassed by the way Seiko had made that sound. It was as though Rika had gotten dressed up in some manner in preparation for a date.

_She wouldn't treat it that seriously…would she?_ Almost against his will, an image of Rika wearing makeup, wearing a dress, and carrying a small purse came unbidden to his mind and Takato immediately shook his head to get rid of it. It seemed too surreal for him to possibly believe, even with the advent of digimon being a fantasy turned reality. That, and he was certain that Rika would beat him into the ground for even harboring such an image of her.

_In the end, there's only one way to find out for certain,_ thought Takato as he made his way towards the backyard where he eventually found his friend crouched in her garden, digging around in it.

* * *

Rika tore out weeds from her flowerbed with a determined tug, smiling in triumph for each and every one that she uprooted before tossing them into a nearby bucket.

_Try and take over my garden will you?_ Rika laughed softly in her mind as she went back to work. _Not while I'm on the watch, you won't!_

Continuing with her task, Rika's lavender gaze wandered over to the packet of seeds that she had placed on the border of her garden. The Momoirobara. She had been thinking about giving them a go with the next stage of her planting. Granted, it was the reason why she had bought them, but whenever she thought about them she set them aside, or simply didn't get around to doing the deed, focusing instead on weeding out the unwelcome plants that continued to invade her flowerbed. She had good reason for doing so. Everything that she put into the garden she did so with great care and deliberation, wanting to get the meanings behind the flowers to correspond with how she felt. Any hesitation meant that she needed to think some more before she added a flower. She had a small box next to another one that held extra digimon cards that contained a sizeable number of seed packets that had been stored away for safekeeping from the previous year; holdovers from previous uncertainties that required further thinking. Some would be used this year, and others would remain in the box until such a time that they were needed.

The sound of grass rustling beneath a foot caught Rika's attention, and a small smile appeared on Rika's face.

"So you're _finally_ here, huh, Gogglehead?" the red haired Tamer teased, closing her eyes and imagining a startled Takato standing behind her.

"Huh?" came the response that confirmed her suspicions. "How did you…?"

"Grandma and Mom would have called out to me first," replied Rika before Takato could even finish his question. "And Renamon's a lot quieter than you are." The girl's smile transformed into a grin as she got up and dusted off her jeans. "Plus Renamon told me that you and Dino-boy arrived so I figured that it wouldn't be long before you made your way back here."

Takato laughed and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"So much for the surprise…"

"Which you know I hate," smirked Rika before noting the absence of something. "Where's Dino Boy?"

"Um…Renamon took him somewhere…she didn't say where, but she thought that we should be left alone for some reason."

"I…see." Rika frowned slightly before deciding to change the subject. She'd have a talk with Renamon later about her sense of 'discression.' "So…what do you want to do?"

"I…haven't actually thought about that yet," admitted Takato, shifting in obvious discomfort of having been put on the spot. "Your grandmother wants us to have some of the cookies that she's making so I kind of figured that we could stick around here until they were done."

Rika grimaced slightly, but nodded in agreement. As much as she didn't like the feeling that she was being set up by her grandmother, especially with something as childish as _cookies_ of all things, she didn't want to let all of her hard work go to nothing. After all, those cookies were _worth_ a setup just to have and Rika often had a hard time saying no to them.

_Even though mom keeps telling me that they'll spoil my figure,_ Rika thought in bemusement. _Not like that stops her from diving into them either._

Takato coughed, and Rika took note of the sound of rustling plastic from the hand that hid behind the boy's back. Rika sighed mentally.

_And I just told him that I didn't like surprises…_

"So…um…what were you doing before I got here?" asked Takato, trying for conversation. Rika tilted her head to one side.

"Just working on my garden," she replied, deciding to humor him and play dumb to his rather inept attempts at hiding what she believed to be her White Day present. Although Rika wasn't too keen on the idea of his gift of 'obligation' she had to admit that she was mildly curious about its contents. Although she was sure he didn't know, she had noticed his persisting presence at or near the flower shop that she so regularly frequented, inspired no doubt by their conversation earlier in the week. She wondered what sort of flower or seeds he would get her to represent what he thought of her or something to that affect. "Mostly thinking about what I'm going to plant next." Rika scowled at the flowerbed. "A lot of weeds are in the way…"

"Anything I can do to help?" asked Takato. Rika raised a sardonic eyebrow at him, causing the boy to fluster a bit. "I can do it. I won't crush anything, and I'm usually the one on-call for keeping the plants in order at school."

"Well…" Rika glanced at her garden in consideration.

_Decisions, decisions…_

"Do you at least know how to use a shovel?"

"Hey! Come on…"

"Just kidding," Rika grinned. "You can help if you want. In fact, I could probably use some help on this one."

"Why's that?" asked Takato, cocking an eyebrow. Rika didn't reply, instead giving Takato a long, considering look before returning her attention to the garden. Furrowing his brow Takato followed her gaze, trying to understand what she had said. As he thought it over his crimson colored eyes fell upon the packet of Momoirobara seeds that he remembered seeing Rika buy earlier in the week.

"Are you thinking about planting these?" he asked, stepping over to where the packet lay and picking it up.

"Maybe. I don't know. I don't always plant the things that I buy. Everything in this garden represents something that I feel for each of you guys. I like to make sure that I know for sure what I feel before I plant something."

Takato nodded in understanding. He remembered Rika explaining the concept behind her garden earlier in the week. Thinking about it, a smile bloomed across his face.

"I'll bet that whatever it is you plant, it'll be really nice looking. You've always been passionate about the things and the people that you care about."

"Not when it comes to certain rabbits," smirked Rika, causing Takato to chuckle lightly.

"Not unless you count being angry at them as passionate," he replied.

"I'm starting to think you know me a little too well. Anyway, this garden's not getting weeded any faster."

"Right," Takato nodded, absently setting his bag on the ground as he stepped towards the flowerbed. "Just tell me where you want me to start."

"We can start here," said Rika, pointing to the spot that she had been digging around in earlier. "There are some weeds there that have deep roots, not to mention there are some rocks there that I want to get rid of."

"Got it," said Takato, digging his fingers deep into the soil where Rika had indicated. Rika's hands followed his, and both dug downwards, neither showing any hesitation at the dirtiness of the job, instead losing themselves to the task. After a few minutes Takato pulled out a rather large, palm sized rock and set it to the side, his eyes wide with amazement before narrowing in concentration and returning back to the dark earth. Words were exchanged as they worked, mainly from Rika as she pointed to a particular spot that she wanted to work on or avoid, or in response to Takato whenever he asked a question. Time passed with neither of them taking much notice. So engrossed were they that they didn't notice the gentle dip that the sun was taking above them, transforming the sky from a light blue hue to a blazing, golden color.

* * *

Seiko Hata smiled as she watched the two Tamers work in the garden. She had been just about to call them in to have some of the cookies that she had made as they were finally done baking, but one look had changed her mind.

_It would be a shame to interrupt them while they're so hard at work together,_ thought Seiko. _I'll leave them be for now and keep their cookies warm._

Turning, Seiko went over to the batch of cookies and left the two friends to their task.

* * *

As Takato worked, he began to learn a few things about the arrangement that Rika had set up for her friends, and a few things about how she felt about her friends. It seemed she took her flower arranging quite seriously, and spoke honestly when she planted. As a result, he was somewhat surprised when he found a sprouting plant that she told him represented a negative feeling in addition to the positive ones.

"I don't want to just look at the good things," Rika said to him when he had asked her about this particular detail. "I'm not criticizing anyone, but I want to view the whole picture. I want to look at one of the beds, like Terriermon, and _know_ that I'm looking at something that gives me the feeling of him. So if for any reason someone's not around I can remember what it was like when they were there. Like this." Rika pointed to a flower with pink, spider-like petals that had grown to maturity. Takato recognized it as a Red Spider Lily. "This one is part of the group that represents Leomon."

"What's it mean?"

_"Never to meet again,"_ replied Rika, her eyes softening a bit.

Takato looked at Rika, somewhat surprised by the choice.

"Why would you want to remember something like that?"

"Because it makes the picture look more whole. Nothing's missing. Nothing's left out. Have you ever looked at a particular spot on a picture, and thought about how ugly it looked, only to think about how strange it would be if it was missing from the whole thing? Leomon sacrificed himself to save all of us. I don't want that to be forgotten. Do you remember how this place looked when you stumbled across it the first time?"

Takato nodded.

"Yeah. It looked…really nice," he answered truthfully. When he had first seen it words had failed him, and at times when he thought about it they still did. The garden had been quite the colorful arrangement of blues, yellows, reds, and many more colors, all of various shapes and sizes. On its own, he wasn't sure what to make of the Red Spider Lily, especially now that he knew its meaning, but when juxtaposed with the others it seemed to add something. He didn't know what the other flowers meant, but judging from the colors used, some of which were orange, yellow, and white, he got the impression of what they were trying to convey. They seemed appropriate, and Takato was left with memories of the fallen lion warrior.

It left him wondering what flowers Rika had picked out for Impmon.

"I'm still working on Impmon's," said Rika upon his voicing this question. "I'm finding his to be a little hard to figure out. I'm going to have to talk to him more. Before this I wasn't too keen on having a conversation with him. You know how he gets."

"Are you worried about how you're going to portray him?"

"A little bit, yeah," admitted Rika. "It's funny. After Renamon and I biomerged for the first time I've felt kind of protective of him, so I guess I don't want to make him look like a total bad mon. _This_ is why I take my time. I want to make this garden without reservations."

Takato nodded in agreement while he felt himself grow a tad bit nervous. Glancing out from the corner of his eye at the bag that he had placed on the ground, he suddenly had doubts as to whether or not the gift was a good idea. After all, he had bought the seeds without any knowledge of what their meaning was. Could he have picked the wrong meaning?

_There's really no turning back now, is there?_ Thought Takato.

"Hey, Gogglehead," came Rika's voice, snapping him out of his thoughts. "You mind giving me a hand here?"

"Huh?" Takato blinked as he looked over at the girl and noticed that she was digging after another rock in the soil. It looked as though she were having some trouble with this one. "Oh, sure."

Both Tamers set to work on the rock, digging around it so as to allow themselves more access before going under it.

_What is this thing?_ Wondered the goggle-wearing Tamer, pushing his fingers beneath the rock and pushing upwards. The stone lifted slightly in protest, but otherwise refused to budge. _A boulder?_

"You ready?" asked Rika, repositioning herself so that she would have more leverage. Takato did likewise before nodding. Together the two pulled and pushed, working the stone closer to the surface before it finally broke free. Takato laughed as he nearly fell over from the effort.

"This thing is smaller than the last one," noted Rika with an annoyed look on her face before tossing the rock to the growing pile that she had started. Breathing a sigh, Rika ran one dirt encrusted hand over her forehead, wiping away some sweat and leaving a smear on her skin. Takato stared at the red-headed girl, and noticing this she looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What?"

"Nothing," said Takato, leaning back and smiling. "I just never thought I'd see you get this dirty outside of a battle."

Rika smirked. "I'm not afraid of a little dirt when it's worth getting dirty."

Silence fell between the two friends for a moment before Takato finally spoke.

"So, how many of the others do you have left?"

"It's not something I'm going to be 'done with', Takato," replied Rika. "But I have done enough for Henry, Kazu, Ryo, Guilmon, Kenta, Renamon, MarineAngemon, Terriermon, Lopmon, Suzie, Leomon, and Jeri; just about everyone except Guardromon, Cyberdramon, Impmon and his partners, and you."

"What about you?"

"What about me?" asked Rika.

"Well, shouldn't you have something for yourself there too? I mean, wouldn't the picture be incomplete without you there?"

"I'm right here, Gogglehead," Rika snorted.

"I don't mean like that…"

"I know what you meant," cut off Rika. "I was just teasing. I swear, sometimes you take me way too seriously. Anyway, to answer your question, I'm not sure I could put together a flowerbed that describes _me_ and be honest about it."

"Um…maybe I can help you with that?" asked Takato tentatively.

"Is that why you have that bag there?" Rika pointed to the bag lying on the ground at the edge of the garden. "Or did you get that just for White Day?"

"Uh…" Takato scratched the back of his head nervously. "I actually did get it for White Day. I kind of worried about it because I know that you don't like this sort of thing, but I really wanted to show my appreciation for what you did on Valentine's Day. I'm sorry if you don't like it…"

"Why wouldn't I?" asked Rika. "You didn't get it for me because you felt obligated to, did you?"

"Well, no, but…"

"Then don't worry about it. I gave you your chocolate because I wanted to show how grateful I was to have you as a friend. In this case, it only makes sense for you to want to give thanks."

"W-Well…it's just that…um…"

Rika looked at the boy and offered him a smile. She had an idea that he was worrying over nothing, just as he always did. Sure she knew that he had no clue about the meanings behind flowers, but she trusted Mrs. Suzuki to pick one out to best fit whatever meaning he wanted to convey. How bad could it be?

_Well, this is Takato we're talking about,_ mused Rika sarcastically, but she immediately brushed the thought aside, continuing to look at him expectantly. Seeing her resolve, Takato swallowed nervously, picked up the bag and handed it to her. Taking it into her hands Rika opened the bag with the sound of rustling plastic and reached in.

_Seeds, huh? Kinda simple, but I bet he thought it would be better to grow something straight from the beginning rather than get something already mature. That's just like hi…"_

Rika's violet eyes grew wide in surprise as she turned the packet over and read the name printed on it.

_Wha…? No way. What is this…? Why…? Does this mean…?_

Rika looked up at Takato and back at the seeds, words for once failing her for the first time in her life. Although she could be considered an amateur as far as recognizing flower meanings, she knew enough to get the basic ideas represented in them. The ones that Takato had gotten her, Wasurenagusa, a plant that had five blue petals and otherwise known in the west as the 'Forget-me-not' had a meaning that was all too clear to her. That of 'true love.'

"Rika…?"

"Huh?" Now it was her turn to blink in confusion.

"Is it…"

"Takato…why?"

"Why what?" asked Takato, tilting his head to one side, his own confusion starting to grow.

Rika swallowed, feeling uncharacteristically nervous.

"Why did you…" Rika paused, wondering why she was even asking such a question. Of course Takato would have his reasons. He undoubtedly wanted to say something specific to her when he bought them, and flowers were a universal method of delivering messages involving a person's feelings. Mrs. Suzuki, the store manager, would have chosen the perfect flower to convey that message. Rika focused her attention on the packet, for once wishing that she had her hair down so that she could hide the growing redness in her face. What was she supposed to say? What _could_ she say?

_How can I, when I don't even know how to react to this? Sure, after that…'moment' we had at Guilmon's home I started to think that…maybe he felt something…and I know I did too, but I didn't think that…that he'd do…_ this. _This is…this is just…crazy! It's…_

Rika realized with quiet humor that this was something that only Takato would do, as he had done so often in the past.

_He always does this. Does something that catches me by surprise. Just when I think I have him figured out he goes and does something really stupid or corny that makes me change how I see him._

_Still…I get the feeling that there's something missing here. This is…as much as I hate to admit it, not 'Takato' enough. Maybe if this was from Ryo I could believe it. But Takato…_

Frowning, Rika had to remind herself that her friend had gotten these seeds from the shop that she frequented. That had to be the only explanation. She had seen Takato hanging around the vicinity enough times to pick up on what he was trying to do. Mrs. Suzuki would have certainly helped him…

_Or maybe I should just go with the flow for now, and see what he does._

Takato in the meantime was scratching his head in confusion, trying to figure out what it was about the seeds that had caused such a sudden reaction in Rika, and why she had clammed up all of a sudden. It wasn't at all what he had expected. She was never one to really get embarrassed over things except on occasion when something happened that made her feel uncomfortable. As far as he knew, gifts did not fit in that category, and with the exception of their little incident on Valentine's Day she hadn't been uncomfortable handing out chocolates. Surely a thank-you present wasn't that distressing…was it?

"Um…Rika?" began Takato, hoping to break up the heavy silence that had fallen between them. "If you don't like them I can just…"

"Huh?" Rika's eyes flashed angrily and her hand tightened around the packet. "No! I…um…" Rika's face visibly calmed while simultaneously gaining a deep blush that left Takato completely dumbfounded. "…I like them. It's just…it's a little abrupt I think. I wasn't really expecting anything like this…"

"Why?" asked Takato, his confusion only increasing. "These flowers…they…" Rika's blush deepened and she shifted uncomfortably. "…Is this…really what you think of me?"

Takato scratched the side of his head, not wholly understanding what she was getting at.

"Well…I thought of you the first time I saw them, and I thought that their color matched you. Plus they…um…they looked really…uh…really pretty."

That last part Takato only just barely said above a whisper, not at all certain how his friend would take the admission. Past experience had taught him to be wary around the girl, as she tended to not react well to anything other than praises to her skills as a Tamer, particularly anything that had to do with her looks. He saw enough of her reactions to Ryo's jibes to know that, leaving him with a sense of wonder as to why she never clobbered him for his comment on her shirt from two years ago in the tunnels. Now that he thought about it, the fact that she didn't react negatively surprised him.

As Takato continued to try to figure out why Rika was reacting this way, he watched in utter fascination as her blush darkened considerably, her grip on the packet tightening all the more.

_This is…completely…_ ridiculous! The girl screamed in her mind. _Where does he come up with this stuff? It's stupid! And I…_

Rika blinked as a thought occurred to her. _Hold on a minute…_

Looking down at the picture on the packet, Rika ran her eyes over the blue petals, admiring their color. Disassociating herself from their meaning, Rika saw that on their own, yes, they did look rather pretty. And while she herself was never vain about her looks she knew enough that even she drew more than her fair share of looks on the streets, something that only increased in number as she grew older. Presently her mother mentioned being jealous of her looks, and recently approached her about entering the fashion business alongside her. As expected she had turned it down and Rumiko hadn't argued about it as she would have done in the past as their relationship had become much more understanding in the past two years, but it had only served to drive the point home. Takato saw this, and thought of her.

_Blue…just like my digivice. And…'pretty.'_ Rika pursed her lips together, not sure if she liked the direction that her thoughts were going, and for an instant she wondered which one she preferred more. In the end, her desire to know the truth won out and she looked Takato in the eye.

"Takato," she began slowly. "Do you know what these flowers mean?"

"Not really," admitted Takato freely, though he still had an anxious look on his face. "I had wanted to find out, but Mrs. Suzuki wasn't in today so I…um…went about it the best that I could. I didn't make you mad, did I?"

"Let's just say that you _really_ took the Gogglehead award this time," laughed Rika. "I mean it. More than usual, you were a serious… _Gogglehead."_

"Okay…what did I do?"

"It's…nothing," chuckled Rika. "Nothing serious. It's just…out of all the possible flowers you had to choose the one that meant _True Love._ " Rika watched with great satisfaction as Takato's face bloomed with a red color that reached all the way to his ears. Rika could only wonder how much their tips were burning right now.

"Ah…um…" Takato stammered, trying desperately to find something to say about the situation…and failing. "…Rika…I…"

"It's okay, Takato," Rika said, smiling down at the flowers before looking up at the boy. "I really like them."

"I…I should have been more ca…" Takato stopped, not certain how Rika would react if he finished that sentence. Rika smirked, knowing what he meant anyway.

"Like I said, Takato. I like them. If anything this makes the gift even better. It has _you_ in its meaning. You chose it, so it has your meaning in it." Rika raised the packet in consideration. "I think I've got just what I need to start your part of the garden."

"B-But the meaning…!"

"Is you, just like I said," said Rika, running one finger along her chin in contemplation. "But if you're worried about the _actual_ meaning, I can use half the contents and," Rika eyed Takato playfully, "save the rest for another time."

If Takato's face hadn't been red before, it most certainly was now. In fact, it _defined_ red in ways that her hair never could.

Rika couldn't help but laugh again.

"You can be so hopeless sometimes, you know that?" Rika chided, resuming her work.

* * *

Time passed as the two Tamers resumed their work, though Rika had long since given up on trying to make Takato stop feeling embarrassed about the gift he had bought for her. The boy, if nothing else, was determined to blush his way through the remainder of their time together, something that was only made worse when Rumiko got home to find them together eating the cookies that Seiko had baked for them. Fortunately, Seiko managed to get a hold of the woman before the situation got out of hand, dragging her off so as to leave the two teens unmolested. Eventually the time came for Takato to go home, as the ringing of the Nonaka family phone by one Mie Matsuki proved, and so it was that Takato and Rika found themselves heading towards the gate.

"S-Sorry for…um…about earlier," apologized Takato as they walked down the path towards the front door. Rika raised an eyebrow.

"What? About the seeds? Didn't I already tell you to not worry about that? If anything," Rika chuckled lightly, "it helped me get something started for you. I know what I can add on from there."

Takato rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, still not sure how to react to that. In spite of his good intentions he had wound up causing the two of them to be embarrassed, though it had turned on him in short order and he believed that he rightly deserved it. It just felt odd that Rika had chosen to reward him for it.

_Actually, I'm not sure if I can call it a reward,_ thought Takato. _But it's definitely something, and she seems quite taken with it. I guess it balances out. I just wish that I didn't mess this up just like I always do._

Rika pulled open the door and stepped to the side. Her eyes rose up and met Takato's. For a long moment the two of them stood there, looking at the other until Takato blushed and forced himself to look away.

"Sorry," he muttered again, and Rika sighed, shaking her head.

"You really need to get a hold of yourself. One little mistake and you act like you've just doomed the whole world or something. I just told you that it's not a big deal, and if anything you've helped me. You've helped make that flower unique."

"I know," said Takato, furrowing his brow and shifting on his feet. "I just feel like I should have gone about it better. _Planned_ better. Rika," Takato looked back up at his friend and pulled his hands into fists, "why did you plant those seeds that mean 'trust' next to the one I got for you? They don't seem to fit."

"Just because you don't know the meanings behind flowers does not mean that you can't be trusted," replied Rika. "I think pretty hard about these things, and I know you well enough by now to know that anyone's trust in you is not misplaced even if your feet are."

"Gee, thanks," muttered Takato sarcastically.

"You're welcome."

In the brief pause that followed, Rika leaned against the door and closed her eyes.

"You know, Takato, even though you caught me by surprise…" Rika paused as she measured her words carefully. "…I can definitely say that what you did wasn't a bad thing. It really got me thinking about how I felt about you." Opening her eyes, Rika refocused her attention on Takato. "Things have been weird between us since Valentine's Day, haven't they?"

_I don't think weird even describes it,_ thought Takato, though he didn't say that out loud.

"Yeah," he agreed. "About what happened then…um…" Takato again shifted his feet, fumbling around for an answer. What came to him instead were Jeri's words from earlier in the week, about making his feelings known through the gift that he bought. He had tried to make his feelings known, but instead caused a great deal of confusion for the two of them. Rika was able to shrug it off by the looks of things, but himself?

_"How do you feel about Rika?"_ came the voice of Jeri once more.

_I just don't know anymore,_ thought Takato. _I just don't know…_

Seeing the boy wrestle with his emotions Rika let go of the door and walked over to him.

"You're thinking too hard again," she said, reaching up and giving his forehead a flick with her finger. "If you keep doing that your brain is going to explode, and then your Mom would be upset. That and," unconsciously Rika reached out and touched his fingers with her own, their tips brushing lightly together before moving away, "so would I."

Takato felt his face heat up once again as his body stiffened from her closeness. It took all of his willpower to not fidget or break eye contact with the girl.

Distractedly, Takato realized that the sun still hadn't completely set.

"…Rika…"

"Ohhh…" came the voice of Guilmon from by the gate, causing both Tamers to jump in surprise and blush ferociously. His crimson eyes wide, Takato saw his partner standing in the open door, his golden eyes holding a forlorn look in their depths. "I wish that I had some popcorn like people do in the movies. Or better yet…bread _shaped_ like popcorn…"

"Honestly," mused Renamon as she phased into view next to the dinosaur, "you have some of the most peculiar eating habits…"

Rika scowled at Guilmon before closing her eyes and giving a light _hmmmph._

"All right. I think that's enough for tonight. You guys had better get moving before your mom decides to skin you alive for coming home late."

"Uh…yeah," agreed Takato. "Right."

Takato broke away from his friend and exited the gate, Guilmon drooping his ears in disappointment, though over what Takato didn't know. Or maybe he didn't _want_ to know.

"Well…ahem," Takato cleared his throat nervously as he turned back to face Rika. "It's definitely been a barrel full of laughs, but I had fun."

_Despite all things considered…_

"Takato?"

"Uh…yeah?"

Rika again leaned against her doorway, and for an instant Takato had a flashback to earlier in the week when he had asked her if she had any free time this weekend. The expression on Rika's face was calm, but long experience in her presence had taught him to see the telltale signs that she was nervous about something.

"You said that you thought it would be a good idea to have a flowerbed about me with the rest, right?"

"Um…yeah." Takato's eyes lit up briefly as he processed her question. "Did you want some help with that or something?"

Rika closed her eyes in contemplation.

"I'll let you know about that. Just be on call for when I am, okay?"

"Sure?" The word was out of his mouth before he knew what had happened, and Rika's face seemed to visibly relax, and a small smile graced her lips.

"Good. Good night, Gogglehead."

With that, Rika turned and headed into her yard, closing the door behind her with a gentle click. Takato stood there, feeling somewhat dumbstruck before Guilmon's tugging on his pant leg snapped him back to attention.

"Is everything all right, Takatomon?" the dinosaur digimon asked in a worried tone. Takato looked back at the gate and after a second he nodded.

"I think so, boy. I think so."

* * *

Rika leaned her head against the gate, listening to the voices of her two friends on the other side as they began their trek home. The smile that she had given Takato remained on her face, and in spite of the fact that Renamon was there watching her, she found that she didn't care.

_I think…I think I know exactly what Jeri saw in him,_ she thought quietly to herself before pushing her head away from the gate and turning her face towards the sky where the first stars of night began to appear.

_Stupid Gogglehead…_ the red haired Tamer grinned.


End file.
